HONOLULU — The Hawaii baseball team went from ducking for cover to strutting its stuff on Friday night.

UH exploded for 13 straight runs in the fifth and sixth innings and finished with a season high in runs in a 16-5 rout of San Diego State in the opener of a three-game nonconference series at Les Murakami Stadium.

San Diego State freshman Colby Turner lost the grip on his bat while taking a swing in the second inning. It carried into the netting above the UH dugout and dropped straight down, causing players to dodge out of the way. He sheepishly took his bat back and struck out, but later notched a pair of hits for SDSU (6-14), which jumped ahead 4-0.

UH (13-7) countered by sending 14 batters to the plate in an eight-run fifth and added five more in the sixth.

Continuing a season-long trend of plate discipline, UH worked the count for 11 walks, plus a team-record six hit-by-pitches drawn.

Jake Tsukada set an individual program record by being plunked four times in a game, two of them forced in a run.

Austin Machado drove in four runs and Kyson Donahue scored four times. Leadoff man Jordan Donahue was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs to raise his batting average to .409.

Alex Giroux lasted 3 2/3 innings in his second Friday night start, giving up six hits – including four straight in the top of the third, when the Aztecs sent eight men to the plate and scored three times.

Danny Veloz (3-0) picked up the win in two innings of relief, striking out five with no hits or walks allowed. He struck out four in the top of the sixth, with Shaun Montoya reaching first on a strikeout and wild pitch.

The old WAC foes resume the series at 6:35 p.m. Saturday.

Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.