HONOLULU – Liam O'Brien delivered another dominant start on the mound and the Hawai'i bats came alive in an 11-3 win over Northeastern Sunday in game three of the series at Les Murakami Stadium.
O'Brien pitched seven shutout innings and allowed just one hit – a third-inning bunt single – while striking out six and walking just one. The senior right-hander has given up just one hit in 17.1 innings on the season and still owns a 0.00 ERA with just one unearned run allowed to go along with 17 strikeouts.
Jared Quandt and
Ben Zeigler-Namoa led the way offensively, with the two combining to drive in nine of the team's 11 runs. Quandt finished 2-for-3 with a career-high tying five RBIs and a homer while Zeigler-Namoa drove in four runs and went 2-for-4 with a double.
The Rainbow Warriors got the scoring started with a two-out rally in the third, scoring three times with two gone in the frame. Zeigler-Namoa cashed in the first run with an RBI double to the right center gap before
Elijah Ickes drove Zeigler-Namoa in with a base hit one batter later. Quandt followed with a run-scoring single to put UH in front 3-0.
Quandt came through with his second RBI of the day with a fifth-inning sacrifice fly to make it 4-0 before the 'Bows broke things open with four runs in the sixth. After a Zeigler-Namoa sacrifice fly made it 5-0, Quandt smashed a three-run shot down the right field line to stretch the lead to 8-0.
UH added on late, with Zeigler-Namoa delivering his third and fourth RBIs of the day with a two-out single in the eighth, and
Xaige Lancaster crushing his first career homer on a solo shot to left in the eighth to make it 11-1.
The 'Bows continued to do significant damage offensively with two outs in an inning, scoring eight of their 11 runs with two gone. On the season, UH has scored 56.8 percent of its runs (42-of-74) with two away in an inning.
Hawai'i also won its eighth consecutive Sunday home game dating back to last year while improving to 30-11 on Sundays under head coach
Rich Hill.
The Rainbow Warriors close out the four-game series against the Huskies Monday night at 6:35 p.m. at Les Murakami Stadium.
