HONOLULU — Hawaii’s up-and-down pitching reached a high point this weekend as the Rainbow Warriors achieved their first sweep of an opponent in the 2023 Big West season.
UH defeated Long Beach State 4-2 behind strong performances on the mound for the second straight day, allowing the Rainbow Warriors to take all three meetings from the Dirtbags.
The ‘Bows (19-13, 9-6 Big West) are in fifth place in the conference with five of 10 BWC series played.
“Championship teams, they have guys that pick each other up,” coach Rich Hill said. “Jacob Igawa picked up guys who didn’t really execute. Stone Miyao picked up our guys that maybe didn’t execute. When you’re getting two-out hits like that, and you’re pitching like that and playing defense, that’s a recipe for a championship.”
Miyao was 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Igawa got the scoring started in the first with a two-out RBI to score Dallas Duarte.
Frehsman left-hander Harrison Bodendorf (5-1) got the Sunday start and lasted 4 1/3 innings with three hits and two walks allowed to pick up the win. He gave way to Alex Giroux and Connor Harrison, who allowed two runs in the top of the ninth before Harrison slammed the door for his sixth save of the season.
Bodendorf threw three innings of relief in Friday’s 6-4 win to get the decision there, too.
“I felt good. I still had a lot in the tank and I emptied it today,” Bodendorf said.
The former walk-on out of Temecula, Calif., said he was not surprised by his role on the team so early into his career.
“As cocky as it might sound to say, yes, I did have to walk on but I believed in myself and I bet on myself and it’s paid off so far,” said Bodendorf, who was later awarded a scholarship.
On Saturday, Randy Abshier tossed the first shutout by a Rainbow Warrior since Logan Pouelsen on March 4, 2018.
Coach Eric Valenzuela’s Dirtbags dropped to 22-15 and 9-9. Cal State Fullerton continues to lead the pack with a 15-3 league record.
Hawaii now prepares for a two-week road trip. It heads to Cal Baptist in Riverside, Calif., for a nonconference game on Tuesday before taking on UC Riverside next weekend. It then plays Pepperdine in a stand-alone game on May 3 before heading to UC Irvine.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.