JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Eli Christensen of Hawaii could not come up with the throw to second to get Arizona baserunner Robert Abel last night.

Hawaii storms back to defeat Wildcats

Mark Rodrigues was pretty good last night for a guy who said he had nothing coming into the game.

Rodrigues allowed three hits in seven innings and combined with Tyler Davis for Hawaii's first shutout of the season as UH beat Arizona 4-0.

The biggest crowd of the season at Les Murakami Stadium (2,527) also saw the Rainbows bat around for all their runs in the seventh inning after they'd managed just one run in the first 15 innings of the series.

UH's first shutout since Steven Wright blanked Louisiana Tech in the WAC tournament last year gave Hawaii (15-7) a "split" yesterday, as the teams finished up Friday's rain-suspended game, Arizona (14-6) winning 2-1.

"It was nice to see that crooked number (in the regularly scheduled game)," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "We came out with a better demeanor, and I thought Mark got better as it went along. In the bullpen he said he was empty, but he located and mixed speeds."

Rodrigues (5-1) struck out four and walked none.

"Before the game I didn't feel like I had anything," Rodrigues said. "But when I met with Coach K (pitching coach Chad Konishi) during the week, he helped me with some technique stuff that worked. He had me make a sight adjustment that allowed me to throw inside."

Rodrigues said he used catcher Landon Hernandez's knee instead of his glove as a guide, and it helped his inside fastball.

"Their guy was marvelous," Arizona coach Andy Lopez said. "They executed well on offense, but it all stems from that pitching performance."

Meanwhile, Eli Christensen's bat has awoken.

The Rainbows shortstop delivered a double to start the seventh-inning rally.

Christensen, who was batting under .200 just a few games ago, has gone 4-for-5 with three walks in the first two games against UA and has raised his average to .288.

Mike Colla relieved UA starter and hard-luck loser Brad Mills (4-2) after Christensen hit a ball into the right-field corner for his stand-up double. Hernandez placed a bunt in front of the plate that moved Christensen to third, and Vinnie Catricala drove a hard grounder past third that made it all the way to the fence for another double, scoring Christensen.

An infield single by Jorge Franco and Derek DuPree's drive through the hole at short moved Catricala around.

Jon Hee advanced the runners to second and third with a grounder to first. Then Justin Frash brought them both home with a single that second baseman Kevin Rodland made a nice stop on, but had no play.

"Things went our way," said DuPree, who also made a nice sliding catch in his first game back in left field since tearing an ACL last summer. "Everybody clutched up."

Rodrigues allowed just a leg double by Jon Gaston in the second and singles by Bill Rhinehart in the fourth and Robert Abel in the sixth. No one got past second off of him or Davis. Davis struck out one and walked one.

The completion of the first game started with Arizona leading 2-0, Kris Sanchez batting against Daniel Schlereth with a 3-2 count, bases empty and no outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Sanchez singled to left-center, and Christensen won an 11-pitch battle and walked. Nate Young pinch-hit for Evan Zimny and placed a perfect bunt on an 0-2 count to load the bases.

Hernandez lofted a short fly to foul territory, which right fielder Hunter Pace caught, the runners holding.

Kevin Macdonald struck out swinging for the second out.

DuPree then hit a sharp grounder that second baseman Rodland dived for and stopped, but Rodland had no play to make and Sanchez scored. The bases remained loaded, with Christensen representing the tying run at third and Young the winner at second.

Jon Hee hit a ball up the middle that the shortstop Abel fielded. Abel dived glove first to second base to force DuPree and end the first game.

Arizona's David Coulon (2-1, 4.76) was scheduled to start against Hawaii's Josh Schneider (2-1, 1.97) in a matchup of right-handers in today's 1:05 p.m. series finale.