JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Joe Spiers of Hawaii scored after Florida State pitcher Barrett Browning dropped the throw home in the bottom of the third inning last night.

’Bows rally past
Seminoles

Hawaii overcomes a 5-run deficit
to knock off No. 3 Florida State

Jose Castaneda's single up the middle scored pinch runner Andrew Castillo from second base to give Hawaii a 7-6 comeback victory last night over No. 3 Florida State in front of 2,321 fans at Les Murakami Stadium.

HAWAII 7 FLORIDA ST. 6 NEXT UP vs. Florida State today

Luis Avila started the bottom of the ninth with a walk. Castillo ran for him and took second when Matt Inouye, showing bunt, slashed a bouncer into left field.

After Rocky Russo failed to sacrifice, Castaneda drove a 1-1 pitch from Tyler Chambliss up the middle that scored Castillo.

Sophomore right-hander Steven Wright pitched the final 6 2/3 innings to get the win. He fanned 10 and walked two to win his second game of the season.

"After the fourth and fifth innings, Steven just cruised. He turned it up even more. He came in after the eighth and said 'Don't take me out, I want the ninth.' He could smell it," said UH pitching coach Chad Konishi.

It was the third consecutive game Hawaii has defeated a ranked team.

"The players never panicked, but it was a struggle," said UH coach Mike Trapasso. "We were able to take advantage of opportunities once there was a crack in the door. The seventh inning brought all the momentum to our side."

The pitching matchup for today's 1 p.m. series finale has UH right-hander Justin Costi (1-2, 2.13 earned-run average) going against FSU left-hander Hunter Jones (3-0, 2.49).

The Rainbows (11-8), down 6-2 in the seventh, cut the deficit to one run with a lot of help from the Seminoles. With two down, FSU's second pitcher, Kevin Lynch, walked Isaac Omura and Avila. Inouye reached first on a throwing error by shortstop Nick Francis as Omura scored and Avila took third.

Avila then scored on a wild pitch. Inouye moved to second and scored on Russo's single to center.

JAMM AQUINO / JAQUINO@STARBULLETIN.COM Hawaii's Joe Spiers, right, was congratulated by his teammates after scoring UH's first run against Florida State last night.

Hawaii tied the score at 6-6 in the eighth after Joe Spiers was safe at first on a fielding error by second baseman Tony Thomas Jr. Spiers stole second, his fourth theft of the game.

With a 2-2 count on Erik Ammon, Spiers took off for third and scored when Thomas booted Ammon's one-hopper, then threw too late to the plate.

Florida State (21-3) put on an early hitting display, jumped to quick 4-0 and 6-1 leads and sent UH starter Ricky Bauer to his earliest shower of the year. The first four Seminoles reached base and scored in the first inning against Bauer.

Shane Robinson singled to center and took third on Gibbs Chapman's hit-and-run single to right. Bauer hit Aaron Cheesman, loading the bases.

Following a mound visit by Konishi, Jack Rye lined Bauer's first pitch to right for a ground-rule double and two RBIs. Ryne Malone then grounded out, but Brant Peacher singled to center to drive in the third and fourth runs of the inning.

With one out in the third, Rye blooped a double down the left-field line and scored on Malone's line single to right for a 5-0 FSU lead. Both hits came on 3-2 pitches.

That was enough for Trapasso, who called Wright in from the bullpen. He got Peacher to hit into an inning-ending double play.

"Steven settled the game down. It was a huge effort on his part," said Trapasso. "He made the big pitch at the right time all night."

Bauer, whose only win came opening night against Alabama, allowed seven hits and did not walk or strike out a batter.

"They hit some good pitches from Ricky. Then we get in a bind with the hit batter and the bases are loaded," said Konishi. "It's a long season and we are going to need Ricky. We have to stay positive with him."

Hawaii got a run in the bottom of the inning through the efforts of Spiers. He beat out a high chopper toward second, stole second and, when the pitch was wild as he stole third, he kept on coming and scored.

The Seminoles maintained the five-run differential in the fourth when Francis singled back up the middle with one down. He moved to third on a single to left by Thomas and came home on Robinson's double to left.

The 'Bows loaded the bases with one down in the fourth on singles by Russo and Jeff Piaskwoski and an error by third baseman Charles Cleveland on Greg Kish's grounder. But just one run scored on a passed ball as Schafer Magana and Ammon sent easy fly balls to center.

Hawaii 7, Florida State 6

FSU	AB	R	H	BI	Hawaii	AB	R	H	BI
Robinson cf	5	1	3	1	Spiers ss	3	2	1	0
Chapman lf	5	1	1	0	Ammon c	5	0	0	0
Cheesman c	3	1	0	0	Omura 2b	3	1	0	0
Rye rfÚdh	5	2	2	2	Avila 1b	3	1	0	0
ÊSpivey dh	0	0	0	0	ÊCastillo pr	0	1	0	0
Malone 1b	4	0	1	1	Inouye cf	5	1	2	0
Peacher dh	4	0	2	2	Russo dh	5	1	3	1
ÊManasa prÚrf	0	0	0	0	Piaskowski lf	4	0	1	0
Cleveland 3b	2	0	0	0	ÊDupree lf	0	0	0	0
ÊHenry phÚ3b	2	0	1	0	ÊCastaneda ph	1	0	1	1
Francis ss	4	1	2	0	Kish rf	4	0	0	0
Thomas Jr. 2b	3	0	1	0	Magana 3b	3	0	0	0
					ÊRoberts ph	1	0	0	0
					ÊHee 3b	0	0	0	0
Totals	37	6	13	6	Totals	37	7	8	2

FSU	401	100	000		--	6	13	4
Hawaii	001	100	311		--	7	8	1

E--Cleveland; Francis; Thomas Jr. 2; Ammon. DP--FSU 0, Hawaii 2. LOB--FSU 8, Hawaii 11. 2B--Robinson; Rye 2; Inouye. SH--Thomas Jr. SB--Robinson; Spiers; Inouye.

FSU	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Browning	3 2/3	4	2	1	3	4
Lynch	3 1/3	2	3	0	2	2
Chambliss (L, 4-1)	1 1/3	2	2	1	1	1
Hawaii	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Bauer	2 1/3	7	5	5	0	0
Wright (W, 2-2)	6 2/3	6	1	1	2	10

WP--Browning; Lynch; Bauer. HBP--by Bauer (Cheesman). PB--Cheesman.
Umpires--Mike Evans (home), Keoki Torres (first), Nelson Valdez (third).
T--3:03. A--2,321.