RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Hawai'i baseball team used a middle-innings offensive explosion to pull away for a 17-5 win over UC Riverside in the Big West opener for both teams Friday at the Riverside Sports Complex.
The Rainbow Warriors broke open a game that went back-and-forth early on with nine combined runs in the fourth and fifth innings, highlighted by five two-out runs in the fifth.
Cooper Walls led a UH bullpen that shut out the Highlanders over the final six innings, as Walls got the win throwing four shutout frames with five strikeouts.
The 'Bows won their third consecutive Big West opener and eighth in the last nine seasons while improving to 27-3 since April 21, 2024, the best record in the country since then.
The 'Bows wasted no time getting on the board, taking a 2-0 in the top of the first behind RBI doubles from
Shunsuke Sakaino and
Ben Zeigler-Namoa. The Highlanders came right back with two runs in the bottom half and a single run in the second to go up 3-2.
Elijah Ickes gave UH the lead back in the third, smashing a two-run homer out to left with one out, but the Highlanders reclaimed the lead with two more in the bottom half to make it 5-4 after three.
The Hawai'i bats then blew things wide open with nine runs in the next two innings, scoring four in the fourth and five in the fifth. Ickes drove in his third and fourth runs of the day on a two-run single to put UH in front before Zeigler-Namoa added two more with another base knock to make it 8-5.
Hunter Faildo ignited a two-out rally in the fifth to break things open, driving in the first run of the frame with a base hit to right field to make it 9-5. Sakaino drove in a run with a base hit between a pair of walks before Zeigler-Namoa picked up his fourth RBI of the day on a single and
Xaige Lancaster drew a bases loaded walk to stretch the lead to 13-5.
The 17 runs scored were UH's most in a game since May 25, 2023 against UC Santa Barbara while the 17 runs are the most by Hawai'i in a road game since May 8, 2022 at UNLV.
The top four batters in the Rainbow Warrior order did tons of damage, combining to go 9-for-15 with 13 runs scored and 10 RBIs. Sakaino led the way going 4-for-4 with six runs scored and two walks, becoming the first UH player to score at least six runs in a game since Apr. 8, 1999 (Michael Dartt – 7).
The Rainbow Warriors and Highlanders continue their series Saturday at 10 a.m. HT.
