IRVINE, Calif. – The Hawai'i baseball team saw its 2026 season come to a close on Wednesday evening, falling to Cal State Fullerton, 5-1, in the opening round of the Big West Championship at Anteater Ballpark. The defeat officially ends the Rainbow Warriors' campaign with a 27-23 overall record.
In his final start of a stellar campaign, junior right-hander
Isaiah Magdaleno (7-5) took the hard-luck loss despite a solid effort on the mound. The first-team All-Big West selection pitched 6.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits while striking out four batters on 94 pitches. However, he was outdueled by Cal State Fullerton starter Mikiah Negrete (9-4), who tossed a dominant complete game, yielding just one run on six hits and striking out seven without issuing a single walk on 98 pitches.
Hawai'i struck first in the bottom of the second inning to take an early 1-0 advantage. Freshman
Mana Lau Kong sparked the frame with a single to left-center and subsequently advanced to second on a wild pitch. After
Josh Martin grounded out to move him to third,
Evan Rolbiecki delivered an RBI groundout to shortstop to bring Lau Kong home.
The Titans answered immediately in the top of the third inning to tie the game at 1-1. Nick Miller hit a ground-rule double down the left-field line and later scored on a Paul Contreras RBI single to left field.
The contest remained deadlocked until the seventh inning, when Cal State Fullerton finally broke through against the Hawai'i bullpen. After Magdaleno opened the inning with a hit by pitch, the 'Bows cycled through relievers
Tsubasa Tomii,
Brody Martin-Grudzielanek, and
Hekili Robello. The Titans capitalized on the pitching changes, taking a 3-1 lead via an RBI bunt single and a run-scoring wild pitch.
Cal State Fullerton added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning to put the game out of reach. The Titans benefited from a pair of costly Hawai'i throwing errors—one on a failed pickoff attempt and another on a throwing error on a potential inning-ending double play —allowing two unearned runs to cross the plate.
