HONOLULU — For the second straight season, the Hawai'i baseball team opened its year with a walk-off win, edging Gonzaga in 10 innings for a 3-2 victory before a sold-out Les Murakami Stadium Friday night.
In a game full of grit and patience the Rainbow Warriors leaned on strong pitching and timely offense to outlast the Bulldogs in a scrappy season opener that featured just 11 total hits and four combined errors.
The 'Bows had chances late but were held in check until the 10th.
Kody Watanabe opened the inning with a single through the right side, and
Ben Zeigler-Namoa followed with a bloop hit to short left.
Elijah Ickes then laid down a sacrifice bunt, forcing a throwing error to third that allowed Watanabe to cross the plate with the winning run and seal the walk-off.
Hawai'i struck first in the second inning when
Kamana Nahaku came home on a Gonzaga error, but the Bulldogs responded in the fourth with an RBI groundout to even the score.
The 'Bows briefly regained the lead in the fifth inning when Zeigler-Namoa grounded out to second base, plating
Tate Shimao to make it 2-1. Gonzaga answered in the eighth, however, after a single up the middle drove in a run. The back-and-forth scoring knotted the game at 2–2 and sent the season opener into extra innings.
In his first start since his freshman year
Isaiah Magdaleno set the tone on the mound for the Rainbow Warriors, tossing six innings with six strikeouts while allowing just one earned run on 102 pitches. Japan native
Tsubasa Tomii and transfer
John Alkire II combined for 4.0 innings out of the bullpen, allowing just one run in the eighth and keeping Gonzaga off the board through extras.
Alkire II earned his first win in his debut as a 'Bow, allowing zero hits during his 2.1 innings of work.
Watanabe showed out in his first game as a Warrior, going 3-for-4 with two singles and a double. Last year's season opener walk off hero
Draven Nushida went 2-for-3 with two sharp singles through the six hole. Watanabe and Nushida combined for five of the six Hawai'i hits in this opening night thriller.
Hawai'i will return to the field tomorrow night at 6:35 P.M. in the second of this four game opening series.
