HONOLULU – Draven Nushida ripped a walk-off single to right field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to cap off the Hawai'i baseball team's 9-8, come-from-behind win over Marshall on opening night at Les Murakami Stadium.
The win extended the nation's longest active home winning streak to 12 games dating back to last season and gave UH its first season-opening win since 2021. Hawai'i has also won six games in a row dating back to last year, also the longest active streak nationally.
Trailing by two entering the bottom of the ninth,
Ben Zeigler-Namoa and
Elijah Ickes led off the inning with hits before
Xaige Lancaster plated Zeigler-Namoa with an infield hit to make it 8-7. Ickes came around to score on a passed ball to tie it up one batter later, but a strikeout, groundout and hit by pitch put runners on the corners with two outs.
Nushida, a Kailua native, was called on to pinch-hit and make his Rainbow Warrior debut with the game on the line. The lefty took the first pitch he saw over the right fielder's head and set off an opening night celebration.
The Thundering Herd struck first, as Tyler Kamerer and Ethan Murdoch hit back-to-back homers with two outs in the second inning to pmake it 2-0. Marshall added to its lead with three runs in the third, scoring on a single, sacrifice fly and passed ball to make it 5-0.
The 'Bows came back by scoring three unanswered over the next two frames to cut the deficit to two.
Itsuki Takemoto put UH on the board with an RBI single in the fourth followed by an
Aidan Kuni run-scoring double to cut it to 5-2. Lancaster drove in the third Hawai'i run with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly.
After Murdoch hit his second homer of the night on a two-run homer in the sixth to extend the lead, the 'Bows answered again with three straight to make it 7-6.
Shunsuke Sakaino scored two with a gapper to left center in his first at-bat as a Rainbow Warrior, and
Matthew Miura trimmed the deficit to one with a run-scoring single that drove in Sakaino.
Marshall would score a single run in the top of the ninth to make it 8-6 and set up the UH comeback.
Ickes led the way offensively for the 'Bows, going 4-for-5 with two runs scored while Lancaster finished 2-for-4 with two RBIs in his UH debut after being sidelined last year with an injury.
Freddy Rodriguez led the Hawai'i pitching staff, throwing 2.1 hitless innings of relief while giving up just an unearned run.
Isaiah Magdaleno also delivered a strong relief effort, fanning five over 3.1 innings.
The two teams continue the series with a doubleheader beginning at 1:05 p.m. Saturday at Les Murakami Stadium. Game one is scheduled to go seven innings with game two set for nine innings. The second game will begin approximately 40 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
