HONOLULU – The Hawai'i baseball team won the all-important opener of a crucial series against UC San Diego, 6-3, Thursday night behind some clutch hitting and a strong combined effort on the mound.
 
The Rainbow Warriors are now one win away from clinching a spot in next week's Big West Championship.
 
Jordan Donahue started off his Senior Weekend by driving in a team-high three runs while fellow senior Jared Quandt went 3-for-3 to lead the offense. Freddy Rodriguez went 2.1 shutout innings with three strikeouts to earn the win while Isaiah Magdaleno fanned five over the final 2.2 frames to get his seventh save of the year.  
 
UH struck first, manufacturing a run to go up 1-0. Matthew Miura led off the game with a single, stole second, moved to third on a bunt, and scored on a Ben Zeigler-Namoa RBI groundout.
 
The Tritons jumped in front with two runs in the third, but the 'Bows answered an inning later with a three-run fourth to make it 4-2. With the bases loaded and one out, Donahue knocked a two-run single into center field to put Hawai'i in front. One batter later, Draven Nushida delivered pinch-hit sacrifice fly to double the lead.
 
UCSD cut into the UH lead with a run in the seventh, but the Rainbow Warriors added a pair of key insurance runs in the eighth to make it 6-3. Elijah Ickes finished off a 2-for-4 day with an RBI triple to center field before Donahue drove in his third run of the night on a perfect squeeze bunt.
 
Magdaleno came back out for the ninth inning and struck out the side on 14 pitches to finish things off.
 
The Rainbow Warriors and Tritons continue their series Friday beginning at 6:35 p.m. Friday's game is officially sold out, however fans can still purchase tickets online at SeatGeek. Standing room tickets will also be available at the door.