IRVINE, Calif. – Behind some late-inning magic offensively and a solid combined effort on the mound, the Hawai'i baseball team picked up a 7-2 win to open a key series at UC Irvine Friday.  
 
Tied at two heading to the seventh inning, the Rainbow Warriors (22-16, 11-8 Big West) struck for three runs in the inning to take a 5-2 lead. Quandt delivered the go-ahead RBI, smoking a triple down the right field line to drive in Jordan Donahue, making it 3-2. Quandt came in to score one batter later on a Matt Wong RBI fielder's choice, then Kyson Donahue found the left center gap for a double to score Wong from first, stretching the lead to three.
 
From there, the 'Bows turned the ball over to Harrison Bodendorf who shut the Anteaters down over the final three innings with five strikeouts while allowing just one hit to earn his first career save. Jacob Igawa delivered some key insurance with a two-run double in the top of the ninth to give Bodendorf breathing room in the bottom half, when he stranded a pair of runners on base to end the game.
 
The Anteaters (28-14, 10-9 Big West) got on the board first with a run in the opening frame, but the 'Bows answered back in the third to take the lead. After Dallas Duarte doubled with two outs, Jared Quandt smashed a two-run homer out to right center to give UH a 2-1 lead.
 
UC Irvine tied it up in the bottom of the third, making it 2-2 after three consecutive one-out singles.
 
Quandt drove in three runs and scored three, finishing 2-for-4 with a homer and a triple to turn in his sixth multi-hit game of the year and fifth multiple-RBI performance. Wong continued his recent hot streak, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and run scored to give him a .366 batting average over the last 12 games.
 
Igawa extended his hitting streak to 11 games with his two-run double in the ninth, while Duarte hit safely for the seventh straight game with his double in the third. The 'Bows have now had nine go-ahead hits in the sixth inning or later of games after Quandt's triple and are 6-0 this year in games that have been tied after six innings.
 
Harry Gustin started on the bump and went five innings, striking out six while limiting UCI to two runs on five hits. He gave way to Alex Giroux in the sixth inning, and he worked a scoreless frame to pick up the win before turning it over to Bodendorf.
 
The two teams continue their series Saturday at 10 a.m. HT. Randy Abshier is scheduled to get the ball for the 'Bows while the Anteaters will counter with Michael Stanford.