HONOLULU — With second place on the line in the Big West Conference, Hawaii offered up a wallop of a punch against Cal Poly’s Drew Thorpe, a top MLB draft prospect and one of the finest college pitchers in the land.
The Rainbow Warriors landed four hits off of the crafty Thorpe in the first inning, tallying three runs. But instead of withering, the third-year sophomore settled into one of his customary dominant outings, lasting eight strong innings to give the Mustangs a chance to play catch-up in what was likely the last start of his college career.
They obliged, surging ahead on pinch hitter Brett Borgogno’s two-run shot to left field in a four-run eighth to take a 5-3 win in the opener of the teams’ final BWC series of the season on Thursday night at Les Murakami Stadium.
“They got three in the first, but I knew my guys would pick me up later on in the game, so I was just trying to keep them there the rest of the way and put up a couple zeroes,” said Thorpe, who got seven of them.
Cal Poly (36-20, 21-7 Big West) matched its single-season program record with its 12th straight win and clinched second place, up three games on UH with two to play. UH (27-23, 18-10) needed to sweep the Mustangs to avoid finishing in third; however, the Rainbow Warriors can still play for the series victory, which would be their eighth straight to end the season, and their first in the Big West against Cal Poly.
Outgoing senior Andy Archer, who came to UH this season as a graduate transfer from Georgia Tech, did all he could in his final collegiate start. He lasted a season-high 5 2/3 innings, giving up just five hits, one walk and one earned run while striking out five in the no-decision. His fanning of the side in the first frame included All-American shortstop Brooks Lee, Cal Poly’s other Golden Spikes nominee and a possible No. 1 draft pick.
Archer savored the standing ovation of the 1,745 in the house when he left in the sixth, something he said he’d remember for the rest of his life.
“It might be your last time ever on the mound, but you’ve just gotta treat it like every other game. It’s not about me, it’s about the team,” said Archer, who left open the possibility that he’d return in a relief role later in the series. “I’m really excited to see this group go back out there tomorrow.”
Li‘i Pontes takes the mound at 6:35 p.m. Friday to try to square the series.
Thursday, it was about what Thorpe (10-1) did to UH after what it did to him first. Former Mustang Cole Cabrera got a one-out single, and after Stone Miyao struck out, Kyson Donahue, Matt Wong and Jacob Igawa pounded two singles and a double in succession for the early lead.
It turned out that would be it for the home team’s fireworks as they were two-hit the rest of the way.
“Well, he poised up. That’s the sign of an All-American,” UH coach Rich Hill said. “I mean, he’s in the top 24 for the Golden Spikes for a reason. He just didn’t flinch, went right back to work. … That’s a Bugs Bunny changeup that’s very hard to hit.”
Thorpe gave up six hits, one walk and struck out 10 to reclaim the national Ks lead and set the Cal Poly single-season record at 149.
It was his 14th consecutive quality start. After the first, Thorpe retired 22 of 24 UH batters, including 11 in a row between the second to sixth innings. He gave way to Jason Franks for a 1-2-3 ninth.
“They hit a lot of lefties, so the changeup was playing more than usual,” Thorpe told Spectrum News before boarding the team bus. “That helped me a lot throughout the whole game. Slider was kind of off today, so it was nice to have the fastball and change, kind of mix in with most of the left-handed hitters.”
His former Mustang teammate, UH center fielder Cole Cabrera, got two hits off of him, a single in the first and a double in the second.
Cabrera had nerves about facing his old team of four years when he arrived at the ballpark, but worked that out during batting practice. He and Thorpe exchanged brief pleasantries after the game.
“I was trying to give the guys the best scouting report I could, but you know, it’s just a constant mix with him,” he said of Thorpe. “It’s that major league changeup that he has. He did a good job. We put three runs up on the board in the first inning; I thought that was going to be enough. But that’s baseball. Proud of how we just battled, but tomorrow we’re going to create more opportunities for ourselves.”
After Tai Atkins delivered in a big spot of relief, neutralizing two runners in the seventh with no one out, Cal Poly got to subsequent relievers Dalton Renne and Connor Harrison in the eighth. Borgogno's two-run shot off of Harrison sent left fielder Scotty Scott crashing full speed into the signage at the wall as the ball snuck over the edge.
Renne (4-3) took the loss.
Though it seems unlikely that Cal Poly’s season will extend into the postseason, Thorpe and the Mustangs are still hoping that if they can sweep this series and reach 38 wins overall, it will give them a chance at an NCAA at-large berth.
UH held Lee, a possible top-five draft pick, to an 0-for-4 day with two strikeouts and an intentional walk, dropping his batting average to .367.
Cal Poly is 21-5 against Hawaii spanning nine series of Big West play.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.