HONOLULU – Despite taking an early lead, the Hawai'i baseball team fell to UC Irvine, 5-1, in the series finale on Sunday afternoon at Les Murakami Stadium.
 
UH still claimed the series win against the Anteaters, having won the first two matchups, winning the regular season series over UCI for the first time since 2018.
 
The Rainbow Warriors (18-14, 8-10 Big West) struck first in the bottom of the second inning. Christian Hoffman drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on back-to-back groundouts from Jake Redding and Draven Nushida. Noah Rodriguez then lined an RBI single up the middle to give Hawai'i a 1-0 advantage.
 
UC Irvine (16-19, 7-8 Big West) quickly erased the deficit in the top of the third inning. The Anteaters plated three runs in the frame, highlighted a Daniel Polasek RBI double, a sacrifice fly from Frankie Carney, and a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch drawn by Landon Gaz to take a 3-1 lead.
 
The Anteaters added single insurance runs in the fourth and sixth innings. Polasek delivered another RBI single in the fourth, finishing the day 3-for-5 with two RBIs, a double, and two runs scored. Zach Doyle chipped in with an RBI single in the sixth to cap the scoring at 5-1.
 
Rodriguez was one of the bright spots for the 'Bows at the plate, going 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. On the mound, reliever Tsubasa Tomii provided a highlight out of the bullpen, striking out four batters without issuing a walk over a season-long three innings of work.
 
The Rainbow Warriors will now get set for another two-week road trip starting Friday at Cal State Bakersfield at 3:30 p.m. HT.