SAN DIEGO – The Hawai'i baseball team used another offensive explosion and a couple of strong pitching performances to rout North Dakota State, 13-1, on Sunday at the Tony Gwynn Classic.
UH out-hit North Dakota State 18-3 while blasting four home runs, two of which came off the bat of
Jared Quandt, in addition to hitting four doubles. On the mound,
Randy Abshier got the start and gave up one run over four innings with four strikeouts before giving way to
Alex Giroux, who did not allow a hit over five innings to earn the win.
After the Bison struck first with a run in the top of the first, UH answered right back as
Jacob Igawa smashed a solo shot out to left center to tie it up. The 'Bows then took the lead for good in the second by scoring four runs to go in front 5-1.
Jared Quandt led off the inning by going yard before
Kyson Donahue added a sacrifice fly and
Matt Wong delivered a two-out, two-run double to stretch the lead.
The Rainbow Warriors went scoreless over the next three frames, but poured it on in the later innings starting with a four-run sixth inning. Quandt led off the inning with his second homer of the day to right field to make it 6-1, while
Ben Zeigler-Namoa came through with a two-RBI double to put UH up seven. Wong drove in his third run of the day to close out the scoring in the frame with an RBI single to center, making it 9-1.
Tai Walton made it 10-1 with UH's fourth homer of the day on a solo shot with two outs in the seventh, before Donahue added on with an RBI single to put Hawai'i up by 10. UH scored two more in the eighth, as
Zach Storbakken drove in a run with his first hit as a Rainbow Warrior while
Nainoa Cardinez wrapped up the scoring with a sacrifice fly.
Six different Hawai'i players finished with multiple hits, led by Quandt who turned in his first career multi-home run game while going 3-for-5. Wong set a career-high with four hits, going 4-for-5 with three RBIs while Igawa went 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Zeigler-Namoa continued his hot start, finishing 2-for-3 with three runs, two RBIs and a double while Donahue and Walton both had two hits apiece.
Hawai'i hit four home runs in a game for the first time since May 7, 2022 against UNLV while the 18 hits are the most in a game for the 'Bows on the young season.
The Rainbow Warriors close out the Tony Gwynn Legacy on Monday against San Diego State at 4 p.m. HT.
