After suffering their first loss in eight years at San Francisco, the No. 29 University of Hawai`i Rainbow baseball team (38-13, 15-6 WAC) roared back to take a 11-1 win over the San Jose State Spartans (33-22, 12-10) at Municipal
After suffering their first loss in eight years at San Francisco, the No. 29 University of Hawai`i Rainbow baseball team (38-13, 15-6 WAC) roared back to take a 11-1 win over the San Jose State Spartans (33-22, 12-10) at Municipal Stadium Friday. Steven Wright (10-2) became the first Rainbow pitcher to reach 10 wins since 1996 with the victory.
Loren Moneypenny (4-5) took the loss for the Spartans.
Wright pitched 7.0 innings, allowing just one unearned run on three hits with seven strikeouts. The win moved the junior into elite company of double-digit winners at UH. The last was Paul Ah Yat in 1996. Mark Rodrigues came in and pitched 2.0 perfect innings to close it out.
Matthew Inouye led the way, going 3-for-5 with two RBI, a double, a run and a stolen base. Elijah Christensen went 1-for-3 with three RBI, a triple and a run.
Justin Frash, Derek DuPree and Jonathan Hee all added two-hit games with a double each while Luis Avila also had two hits.
The Rainbows opened the scoring in the second inning as Christensen drove in Avila on a ground out.
Christensen continued to be the UH run-producer, hitting a triple to centerfield, driving in two runs in the top of the fourth.
Jorge Franco then drove in Christensen from third to make it 4-0 after the fourth.
Hawai`i continued to add to their lead in the fifth, as Frash hit a RBI-single before Inouye drove in two on a single to pad the Rainbow lead to 7-0.
The Rainbows and Spartans will continue their series today at 10 a.m. (HST).
