HONOLULU – The Hawai’i baseball team kicked off its series against Northeastern with an impressive 11-5 victory at Les Murakami Stadium last night. This win marked an exciting moment for the Rainbow Warriors as they pushed their season record to 8-1—a fantastic start not seen since 1999.
Hawai’i displayed a strong offensive game, scoring in nearly every inning and racking up a season-high of 11 runs and 17 hits. Leading the charge was Matthew Miura, who shined with four RBIs and went 4-for-5 at the plate. Xaige Lancaster contributed with a solid 3-for-5 performance, while Draven Nushida had an impressive 3-for-3 day with four runs scored. In total, eight of the nine starters managed to hit.
The game began with a strong start from the Rainbow Warriors, who scored single runs in the second, third, and fourth innings. Kamana Nahaku ignited a rally with a hit in the second, scoring on a balk to put Hawai’i up 1-0. Jared Quandt added another run with an RBI single in the third, followed by Miura’s RBI that pushed the score to 3-0 in the fourth.
The Huskies responded with two runs in the fifth, narrowing the score to 3-2. However, Hawai’i quickly answered back, scoring four runs in their half of the inning. An RBI groundout from Konnor Palmeira brought in Lancaster, and Nahaku’s bunting added another run, leading to Miura’s two-run double, extending the lead to 7-2.
Despite a two-run homer from Northeastern in the seventh, Hawai’i surged back with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Shunsuke Sakaino drove in two runs, and an error added another score, putting the game at 10-4. The final scores were capped with Miura’s fourth RBI in the eighth.
Hawai’i not only set season highs in runs (11), hits (17), and walks (9) but also demonstrated their capacity for clutch hitting. An impressive 54.8% of their runs (34 out of 62) have come with two outs in an inning.
In pitching, Freddy Rodriguez earned the win with two strikeouts despite giving up two runs, marking his first earned runs of the season. Sebastian Gonzalez started strong, completing 4.1 innings with three strikeouts.
The series against Northeastern will continue on Saturday at 6:35 P.M. While tomorrow’s game is sold out, some standing room tickets may be available at the box office starting an hour before the game.
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