HONOLULU — The Hawaii baseball team has proved its winning streak has staying power. It proved Sunday that it can go deep – be it over the fence or into the dugout.
UH flexed its muscle and its bench in its 11-3 win over UC Riverside that extended its nation-best run of victories to 11 games. It hit a season-high four home runs and got six of its 12 hits from lineup non-regulars.
“We’ve been saying all year … we’ve got the best bench we could possibly have,” said utility outfielder Jared Quandt, who started in right and delivered a 4-for-4 game with two homers in the eighth spot in the lineup. “Everyone on the bench can play and when they get their opportunities, they’re going to capitalize on them. The team’s really coming together and there’s a great vibe in the locker room.”
UH (32-15, 15-9 Big West) has swept three straight series heading into this week’s final road series of 2024 at Long Beach State starting Friday.
The BWC regular-season title remains out of reach as leader UC Santa Barbara (20-4) has refused to give ground. UH has moved into a tie for fourth with CSUN, with UC Irvine (18-6) and Cal Poly (17-7) within striking distance with six games left.
An NCAA at-large berth for the team’s first postseason appearance since 2010 remains unlikely but not totally out of the question. UH was rated 69th in RPI as of Monday.
“I mean, it’s in the back of our minds,” Quandt said of the at-large possibility, “but it’s important one of the things we focus on is taking things day-to-day. That’s what we’re trying to do – come out every day and play the best baseball we can.”
Quandt raised his batting average from .256 to .319. He drove in four runs and scored three.
“That guy’s spent some time on the bench, and just figuring some stuff out,” coach Rich Hill said. “There’s two ways to handle that, right? You can pout and be the victim, or you can just go to work, and get a fire in your belly, and that’s what he’s done.”
Freshman Elijah Ickes hit the first of his career and Jordan Donahue launched his second of the season.
It was the most home runs in a game for UH since a 9-4 win at Cal Baptist on April 25 of last year.
Meanwhile, freshman Itsuki Takemoto showed off his batting abilities for the second time this season. The burgeoning two-way player went 2-for-4 as a designated hitter – two RBI singles and two runs scored.
Takemoto has regularly participated in hitting drills all season, though he only made his debut at the plate April 30 against Hawaii Hilo.
That was a pinch-hitting appearance. This time he was in the whole way.
“It was so fun. I really want to say, thank you Coach,” Takemoto said. “I’m always waiting to hit, so it was so good. So fun.”
Asked if Takemoto would appear more in the lineup over the next two weeks as a possible prelude to a two-way role in 2025, Hill was noncommittal.
"We’ll see. We’ll see how the matchup looks on Friday," Hill said. "But we like his swing and he obviously did a good job today."
UH has its longest winning streak since it put together 11 in 1995. It had a 12-gamer in 1993 and a 20-gamer in 1992.
Left-hander Harrison Bodendorf (4-3) was effective for a second straight Sunday as he threw five innings for the win.
Brian McInnis covers the state's sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
