It’s not supposed to rain in Southern California.
But Hawaii first baseman Ben Zeigler-Namoa made it pour, belting a towering solo homer in the third inning and then smacking the decisive two-run single in the ninth in Tuesday’s 5-4 victory over USC in Los Angeles.
The game was played before 498 at Page Stadium on the Loyola Marymount campus because Dedeaux Field, USC’s usual home venue, is being renovated.
The change of site still followed a now familiar pattern for the Rainbow Warriors. It was the ninth time the ’Bows won when being tied or trailing entering the ninth. The ’Bows are 3-2 on this eight-game road trip. They play UC Irvine in Thursday’s opener of a three-game Big West series.
The Trojans took a 4-3 lead on shortstop Bryce Grudzielanek’s grand slam, the only hit starter Zac Tenn allowed in 22⁄3 innings.
With one out in the UH ninth, Konnor Palmeira reached on an error. Jarret “JJ” Nielsen, who pinch-ran for Palmeira, went to second when Shunsuke Sakaino was struck by a pitch. One out later, the left-swinging Zeigler-Namoa stepped into the batter’s box. A wild pitch advanced Nielsen and Sakaino to third and second. Zeigler-Namoa then pounded left-hander Sax Matson’s 1-0 pitch to left as Nielsen and Sakaino raced home with the tying and go-ahead runs.
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“They chose to pitch to him in the ninth with (first) base open, and he got a fastball and put a good swing on it,” UH coach Rich Hill said.
In a telephone interview, Zeigler-Namoa said: “I wanted to hit, (and) I’m glad I got to. It was a fastball middle, and I was just ready for it.”
In the third inning, Zeigler- Namoa hit a bases-empty home run for a 3-0 lead.
“This ballpark is made for him,” Hill said. “He’s got such great opposite-field power. Early in the game, the wind howls out from the West here. He crushed that ball. That’s out at a lot of different places.”
Zeigler-Namoa said of his third home run of the season: “I put a good swing on it. There were two outs, and I was like, I’ve got nothing to lose by taking a good hack. And it went out.”
Zeigler-Namoa, who went 2-for-5, has hit safely in 16 of 17 games.
The Trojans left the bases loaded without scoring a run in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings. In the ninth, pinch runner Wes Hickey was on second with two outs. But Ethan Thomas, the fifth UH pitcher, induced Jack Basseer to ground out to third to end the threat.
“It’s a real testament to the guts of those pitchers,” Hill said of Tenn, Charlie Adamson, Max Jones, Freddy Rodriguez and Thomas. “All of them tonight, I thought, had the guts of a burglar.”
Hill noted the significance of beating one of the historically top baseball teams in the West. USC is in its first year as a member of the Big Ten.
“You can prepare and work hard … with the confidence factor,” Hill said. “But until you really get over the hump and do it, and beat a Big Ten team on the road, it makes you believe you can do anything. This team already does believe. There’s so much Manoa magic here in Los Angeles. Our fans travel great. We should have a lot of confidence we can beat anybody.”
HAWAII 5, USC 4
RAINBOW WARRIORS AB R H BI BB SO LOB
Sakaino 2b 3 1 0 0 1 1 2
Miura cf 5 0 0 0 0 0 0
Zglr-Namoa 1b 5 1 2 3 0 1 0
Quandt rf 2 0 0 0 1 1 0
Faildo ph 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Salmon ph/rf 1 0 0 0 0 1 1
Kinzie ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 0
Bowen rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Takemoto dh 5 1 2 0 0 0 3
Nahaku lf 3 1 1 0 0 1 0
Donahue ss 3 0 2 1 1 0 0
Nushida 3b 0 0 0 1 0 0 0
Lancaster ph/3b 2 0 0 0 0 1 0
Palmeira c 4 0 0 0 0 0 3
Nielsen pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 0
Vrgl. de Dios c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 33 5 7 5 4 6 9
TROJANS AB R H BI BB SO LOB
Dowd cf 3 1 0 0 2 1 0
Hedges dh 3 1 0 0 1 0 0
Grudzielanek ss 5 1 2 4 0 1 3
Lamb c 4 0 1 0 0 1 0
Carpentier 1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Covarrubias 2b 3 0 1 0 2 0 0
Lopez 1b 3 0 0 0 1 1 5
Tejeda c 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Lopez ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 0
Hickey pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Basseer rf/lf 4 1 0 0 1 0 1
Takeuchi lf 2 0 0 0 0 1 0
Higgins ph/rf 1 0 0 0 1 0 0
Martinez 3b 4 0 0 0 0 0 3
Totals 34 4 5 4 8 5 12
Hawaii 021 000 002 — 5 7 2
USC 004 000 000 — 4 5 1
Records:
Hawaii (25-10)
USC (23-13)
E—Zeigler-Namoa, Lancaster. DP—USC 1.
LOB—Hawaii 9, USC 12. 2B—Lamb. HR—
Zeigler-Namoa; Grudzielanek. HBP—Sakaino, ahaku, Nushida; Hedges. SH—Nushida.
HAWAII IP H R ER BB SO
Tenn 22
⁄3 1 4 4 2 2
Adamson 22
⁄3 2 0 0 1 2
Jones 1 1 0 0 3 0
Rodriguez (W, 4-0) 12
⁄3 0 0 0 2 1
Thomas (S, 3) 1 1 0 0 0 0
USC IP H R ER BB SO
Johnson 2 3 2 2 0 1
Harbour 12
⁄3 1 1 1 2 1
Osborne 21
⁄3 2 0 0 0 3
Cushnie 2
⁄3 0 0 0 1 0
Favela 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1
Matson (L, 2-1) 1 1 2 0 1 0
WP—Jones, Thomas; Matson. HB—Tenn;
Harbour, Favela, Matson. BK—Osborne.
Umpires—HP: Christopher Torres. 1B:
Ryan Bleiberg. 2B: Frank Pflugradt. 3B:
Eric Petersen. T—3:16. A—498.