All the right moves ended with the Wright timing in the Hawaii baseball team’s 6-5 victory over Cal State Fullerton at Les Murakami Stadium.
An announced sold-out crowd — there were 2,258 through the turnstiles — saw Gabe Wright deliver the bases-loaded, walk-off single as the Rainbow Warriors took two of three to win this Big West series.
Ben Zeigler-Namoa smacked a two-run homer, Mana Lau Kong came off the bench to deliver a clutch run-scoring double, and the ’Bows solved CSUF closer Andrew Wright.
In the 10th, UH head coach Rich Hill had to decide between switch-hitter Taylor Tanaka, who had scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning or utility player Noah Rodriguez. Figuring that Andrew Wright was left-handed and Tanaka had not batted right-handed this season, Hill summoned Rodriguez as a pinch-hitter to open the 10th.
“Noah takes a really tough at bat,” Hill said. “He’s a high-contact guy. And (assistant) Coach (Dave) Nakama talked me into it.”
Rodriguez delivered a single to right field.
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“The energy was huge in the dugout,” Rodriguez said. “Once I got my name called, the boys were behind me, and I felt good. That’s our culture. When you get called, you have to be ready to go. … I believe it was a fastball out. It could have been a changeup. That pitcher was good.”
After failing to put down a bunt, Jake Redding then hit a chopper to short. Cameron Kim, whose natural position is third, fielded the ball but threw wildly to second. Rodriguez raced to third while Redding remained at first on the fielder’s choice. Tate Shimao, who had reached base in three of his previous four plate appearances, was walked intentionally to load the bases.
That set up a Wright versus Wright matchup. Gabe Wright drove Andrew Wright’s first pitch to deep right. Outfielder Paul Contreras did not bother to retreat or turn around as the drive sailed to the wall while Rodriguez sprinted home with the winning run.
Wright, who transferred from Quinnipiac the past August, entered hitting .222 with 12 strikeouts in 45 at bats.
“He’s been struggling,” Hill said. “They’ve been spinning him into the ground a little bit. A less-experienced player would have let it get to him. He didn’t. He stayed with it. He had a great conversation with Dave (Nakama) about seeing that breaking ball up, because that was what he was going to get, and he got it.”
Wright said: “I knew they were going to throw me a slider, I was seeing a lot of sliders, and I had to make sure I didn’t chase one in the dirt. … I’m sticking with my approach, sticking with my identity. My identity is not rooted in this game. It’s rooted in Jesus Christ. Knowing that, I really can’t fail. No matter what it looks like, I’m always going to be confident, always going to have a smile on my face, and be joyful.”
Hill made several moves that proved to be successful. Freshman Brody Martin-Grudzielanek, who replaced Liam O’Brien in the starting rotation, allowed one run in four innings. Later, O’Brien entered in the seventh and pitched two scoreless innings.
Down 4-2, the ’Bows scored three runs in the eighth to take the lead. With runners at first and second, Lau Kong was summoned as a pinch hitter. Lau Kong was penciled as the starting designated hitter but was scratched before the lineup was announced. Lau Kong drilled a double to left to bring home Ben Zeigler-Namoa to close UH to 4-3.
“I was looking for a fastball, something I could drive,” Lau Kong said. “He threw one in. I was looking for something middle-in. He threw it back in there, and I got my hands out on that one.”
Lau Kong said he worked on using a more compact swing to “be more consistent and on time.”
Redding’s RBI ground out tied it at 4. Tanaka, who pinch ran for Lau Kong, scored the go-ahead run on a passed ball.
In the fifth inning, Zeigler-Namoa hit a two-run homer to stake the ’Bows to a 2-1 lead. In the ninth, he pulled a drive that had home run distance. But the cross winds pushed the ball foul. That set up the dramatic 10th inning.
“It all came together,” Hill said. “That’s no errors, stellar defense. You can see Ben (Zeigler-Namoa) starting to be a different guy right now. Same thing with Elijah (Ickes). … When you win an extra-inning game like this, it’s just toughness. Our guys showed some amazing grit. You get punched in the face, and (then) were super resilient and didn’t flinch.”
| BIG WEST BASEBALL STANDINGS | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | Conference | Overall | ||||
| W | L | Pct. | GB | W | L | |
| UC San Diego | 8 | 1 | .889 | ½ | 12 | 13 |
| Cal Poly | 10 | 2 | .833 | — | 16 | 10 |
| UCSB | 5 | 4 | .556 | 3 | 16 | 9 |
| CS Northridge | 6 | 6 | .500 | 3 ½ | 15 | 11 |
| CS Fullerton | 6 | 6 | .500 | 3 ½ | 12 | 15 |
| Hawaii | 5 | 7 | .417 | 4 ½ | 15 | 11 |
| UC Davis | 5 | 7 | .417 | 4 ½ | 11 | 14 |
| CS Bakersfield | 5 | 7 | .417 | 4 ½ | 11 | 16 |
| Long Beach St. | 4 | 8 | .333 | 5 ½ | 9 | 18 |
| UC Irvine | 3 | 6 | .333 | 5 | 10 | 16 |
| UC Riverside | 3 | 6 | .333 | 5 | 8 | 19 |
| SCHEDULE & RESULTS | |
|---|---|
| Sunday | |
|
Hawaii 6, Cal State Fullerton 5, 10 inn. UC San Diego 9, UC Davis 5 Cal Poly 12, UC Riverside 8 CS Northridge 9, Cal State Bakersfield 5 UC Irvine 7, Long Beach State 1 x-No. 20 Oregon 2, UC Santa Barbara 0 |
|
| Today | |
| x-Cal State Bakersfield at UNLV | |
| Tuesday | |
|
x-CS Northridge at Pepperdine x-Cal Poly at Fresno State x-San Francisco at UC Davis x-UCLA at UC Irvine x-UC Santa Barbara at USC |
|
| Thursday | |
|
Hawaii at UC San Diego Long Beach State at CS Northridge UC Santa Barbara at Cal Poly UC Davis at UC Irvine |
|
| x-non-conference game |
| HAWAII 6, CS FULLERTON 5, 10 INN. | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| TITANS | |||||||
| PLAYER | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | LOB |
| Kim, ss | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Kirchner, 1b | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Contreras, rf | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Miller, lf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Thomas, 3b | 5 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Ortega, c | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Meyer, cf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Burdick, cf | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wilkinson, ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Hart, pf/cf | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Lopez, 2b | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Dobson, dh | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 |
| Totals | 36 | 5 | 9 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 8 |
| RAINBOW WARRIORS | |||||||
| PLAYER | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | LOB |
| Nahaku, cf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Z.-Namoa, 1b/rf | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Ickes, ss | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Hoffman, dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Greco, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Martin, ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Lau Kong, ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Takata, pr | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Rodriguez, ph | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Redding, c | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Shimao, 3b | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Wright, rf/lf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Watanabe, 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| Nushida, lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Bethncrt, ph/1b | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 39 | 6 | 11 | 5 | 3 | 8 | 7 |
| Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS Fullerton | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 9 | 1 |
| Hawaii | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
| PITCHING & GAME NOTES | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAL STATE FULLERTON | ||||||
| PITCHER | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Harper | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Smith | 2 1/3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Wright (L 2-2) | 1 2/3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| HAWAII | ||||||
| PITCHER | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO |
| Martin-Grudzielanek | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Garman | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Inouye | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Tomii | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| O’Brien | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Alkire | 1/3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Shipley | 2/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Soto (W 2-0) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
|
Records: Hawaii (15-11, 5-7 Big West); Cal State Fullerton (12-15, 6-6 Big West) None out, 3 runners LOB when winning run score. E—Kim. DP—Hawaii 1. LOB—CS Fullerton 8, Hawaii 10. 2B—Kim, Thomas, Ortega, Lau Kong, Shimao. HR—Zeigler-Namoa. HBP—Shimao. SH—Miller 2. SB—Lopez, Redding. CS—Lopez. WP—Martin. HBP—by Wright (Shimao). PB—Ortega 2. Umpires—HP: Troy Hodack. 1B: Trey Plummer. 2B: Andrew Burke. 3B: Dax Upton. T—3:36. A—4,337 (2,258 turnstile). |
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