FULLERTON, Calif. – Playing with its season on the line for the second straight game, the Hawai'i baseball team again came through, this time with a 6-2 win over UC Santa Barbara in a single elimination game at the Big West Championship Wednesday.
 
The Rainbow Warriors now advance to the double elimination portion of the Big West postseason tournament and will take on No. 1 seed UC Irvine Thursday at 12 p.m. HT.
 
Ben Zeigler-Namoa delivered a clutch go-ahead three-run homer in the fifth inning while three Hawai'i pitchers combined to limit UCSB to two runs while scattering seven hits. Cory Ronan and Isaiah Magdaleno shut things down out of the bullpen, putting up zeros in the run column over the final five innings to earn Ronan the win and Magdaleno the save.
 
Trailing 2-1 in the fifth inning, the top of the UH order got things going with one out in the frame following a walk and base hit. Zeigler-Namoa then came up and launched an 0-1 pitch over the left center field wall to vault Hawai'i in front, 4-2.
 
Two innings later Matthew Miura greeted a new UCSB pitcher with a first pitch opposite field two-run homer to stretch the UH lead to 6-2 after seven innings.  
 
From there, Magdaleno cruised to the finish retiring six of the final seven batters he faced over the last two frames to record his eighth save. The 'Bows improved to 25-1 when leading after six innings on the season.
 
The Rainbow Warriors struck first, plating a run in the second inning to go up 1-0. After Jared Quandt walked to open the inning, Jordan Donahue legged out a double on a shallow fly ball to center field to put runners on second and third with no outs. Elijah Ickes then came up and plated Quandt with a sacrifice fly to put Hawai'i on the board.
 
The Gauchos came right back with a run in the top of the third to tie it up, and took the lead two innings later on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1 in the fifth.