So will top UH pitcher Mark Johnson, who already had one hard-luck story to tell this week at Cal State-Northridge. He and the Rainbows couldn't afford another one.
Down 2-0 after three innings, Hawaii rallied for a 3-2 victory over Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo yesterday for the first victory on this critical Western Athletic Conference road trip.
It also was the Rainbows' first-ever win at San Luis Obispo Stadium, after five tries. They will close out their current three-game series with the Mustangs today before returning home for a weekend set with Fresno State at Rainbow Stadium.
''This was a big win for us,'' said Johnson, who raised his record to 5-1 and lowered his ERA to 3.31. ''It was a great matchup. You never knew who was going to get the win until the very end.''
Johnson gave up one earned run on four hits. He struck out 10 and walked three for his third complete-game win of the season.
Thanks to yesterday's victory, UH hits the halfway point of its season with an 17-10 overall record and 4-4 mark in league play.
They also have two suspended league games to complete next month at Rainbow Stadium against Cal State-Sacramento and Northridge. They trail the Hornets 15-9 in the bottom of the eighth and are in a scoreless tie with the Matadors in the top of the fifth.
In order to remain within shouting distance of front-running Northridge and San Diego State in West Division play, it was imperative that Hawaii win yesterday's game.
It didn't start out particularly well as the Mustangs broke through for a pair of strange runs in the bottom of the third. Ryan Brennan got things started with a one-out single to right.
After stealing second, Brennan went to third on a sinking single to right by Brent Mitchell that Keoni Hansen misplayed. The ball bounced past him and rolled nearly to the wall, allowing Brennan to score the first run of the game.
Mitchell went to third on the two-base error and scored on a wild pitch by Johnson, who struck out the next two batters to end the inning with Cal Poly-SLO holding a 2-0 lead.
Meanwhile, starting Mustangs pitcher Matt Attenberry was having his way with the Rainbows. He carried a no-hitter into the fifth and had struck out five batters along the way as well.
A leadoff walk to Greg Millichap proved costly to start the fifth. Designated hitter Tracy Nakano then broke up the no-hitter with a line drive double to right.
It appeared Attenberry, who fell to 3-2 with the loss, was headed for even more trouble after hitting Darren Blakely to load the bases with no outs.
But Robert Medeiros grounded into a double play and Hansen popped up to first to end the inning. The lone bright spot was Millichap scored on the double play to cut the Mustangs' lead in half, 2-1.
Fortunately for the Rainbows, Medeiros made up for his mistake in the seventh. Nakano got things started by drawing a one-out walk. He went to second on the sacrifice bunt by Blakely and then came around to score on Medeiros' two-out single to left.
It is the 12th time Medeiros has driven in a run with two outs and proved to be the emotional lift the Rainbows needed as they battled to keep in the WAC race.
Johnson yielded only one hit over the final four innings. That leadoff single in the sixth by Jon Macalutas almost proved costly. He went to second on a groundout and to third on another Johnson wild pitch.
But that's where his luck ran out. Macalutas tried to score on a ball that got away from UH catcher Kenn Wakakuwa. The true freshman scampered for the loose ball and then tagged out Macalutas at the plate to end the Mustangs' threat.
That set up a very interesting ninth for the Rainbows.
Millichap opened the inning with a double off the wall in right. SLO head coach Ritch Price opted to go with junior college transfer Ken Dolan, who was making his first appearance.
Dolan had just gained his academic eligibility before the series and promptly got Nakano to fly to right and for pinch hitter Kelly Konishi to ground out to first.
In stepped Medeiros with two outs and Millichap at third. But he never got the chance to be a hero because Dolan balked in the winning run to give UH a 1-2 record on this current road trip.
''We had to win this game because Johnson had thrown so well,'' UH head coach Les Murakami said.
''He already had been unlucky after what happened at Northridge. Now, if we can win this series, and come back and play well against Fresno State, then we should be in pretty good shape.''
UH did receive some bad news concerning pitcher Randon Ho. He was hit by a line drive on his left hand while shagging fly balls and may have a broken finger.
He will be X-rayed later this week in Hawaii. On a positive note, Jason Ross had his cast removed last Wednesday and may be available to play this weekend against Fresno State.