MINNEAPOLIS – The Hawai'i baseball team picked up its biggest win of the early season with a 9-3 victory over No. 18 Maryland to close out play at the Cambria College Classic Sunday morning at U.S. Bank Stadium.
The Rainbow Warriors picked up their first win over a ranked opponent since beating Arizona State on Feb. 26, 2021, while finishing the weekend 2-1 against a trio of Big Ten opponents. The win also extended UH's winning streak in Sunday games to 10 in a row dating back to last year, while improving to 14-2 on Sundays under head coach
Rich Hill.
The two teams traded runs in the first inning. The Rainbow Warriors pushed one across with the help of some Maryland miscues, as
Ben Zeigler-Namoa led off the game with a walk, moved to third on an errant pickoff throw and scored when
Jacob Igawa reached on an error. The Terrapins answered by back-to-back one-out doubles to knot it up at one.
Hawai'i reclaimed the lead with a pair of two-out runs in the fourth inning to make it 3-1.
Stone Miyao delivered the first run with an RBI single to right field before
Dallas Duarte legged out an infield hit one batter later to plate another run. UH added another in the fifth, as
Matthew Miura led off with a double off the wall in left field before coming into score on a
Jared Quandt sacrifice fly, making it 4-1.
Maryland cut into the Rainbow Warrior lead with two runs in the fifth to make it 4-3, but UH answered right back with a run in the sixth.
Matt Wong doubled to center with one out before Miyao traded places with him with another two-bagger to center, giving UH a 5-3 lead.
The 'Bows added another run in the eighth when
Jordan Donahue took an HBP with the bases loaded to make it 6-3, before adding three more on back-to-back ninth-inning homers. Igawa hit the first long ball, smacking a two-run shot to left center followed by
Kyson Donahue crushing a solo shot to center field to make it 9-3.
Hawai'i is now outscoring opponents 38-11 in Sunday games this season, and 157-65 in the last two seasons under Hill. The 'Bows are averaging 9.8 runs per game since the start of 2022 in Sunday contests, while the pitching staff is giving up just 4.1 runs per game.
Miyao turned in a career-high four hits, finishing 4-for-5 with two RBIs, while
Kyson Donahue homered for the second straight game and third time this season. Igawa's homer was his second of the year as UH homered multiple times for the second straight game and the fourth time this season.
Connor Harrison picked up his second save of the weekend, shutting Maryland out over the final three innings while striking out two batters.
Dalton Renne also pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief as Hawai'i pitching overcame 10 walks, holding the Terrapins to 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
The Rainbow Warriors return to Les Murakami to open a four-game series against 2022 Super Regional team UConn Friday at 6:35 p.m.
