FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Winthrop's Chris Carrara was safe stealing third base last night when UH third baseman Schafer Magana dropped the ball.

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Winthrop outlasts
UH in 15

The Eagles take the series
opener, ending the Rainbows'
four-game win streak

The Winthrop Eagles outlasted the Hawaii Rainbows 4-3 in 15 innings in the opener of a two-game, nonconference series last night in front of 942 fans at Les Murakami Stadium.

WINTHROP 4 HAWAII 3 NEXT UP vs. Winthrop tonight

The loss ended Hawaii's four-game winning streak.

The Eagles (16-5 overall) broke a 3-3 tie with an unearned run in the 15th.

Heath Rollins drew a leadoff walk from Guy McDowell, stole second and moved to third on Nick Bly's two-out groundout. Rollins scored when UH shortstop Joe Spiers threw wildly to first on Kyle Roberson's ground ball.

Hawaii (12-9) got singles from Matt Inouye and Greg Kish in the bottom of the 15th, but Jon Wilson fanned Jose Castaneda and pinch hitter Nate Thurber to end the marathon.

UH had a runner on second with two outs in the 10th and runners at first and third with two down in the 11th, but neither Luis Avila in the 10th nor Jeff Piaskowski in the 11th could produce a game-winning hit.

The Eagles threatened in the 12th when Chris Carrara singled with one out and took second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Daniel Carte, the 15th-best pro prospect in the college ranks according to Baseball America, was intentionally walked. Both runners advanced on a wild pitch but Darrell Fisherbaugh got pinch hitter Bly to ground out.

UH wasted a wonderful opportunity in the 13th when Inouye started the inning with a double to left.

However, Andrew Castillo failed to sacrifice, then struck out. Kish was intentionally walked. Castaneda hit a hard grounder to third baseman Ben Ehrlich who forced Inouye for the second out. Winthrop's third pitcher, Mike Honce, ended the threat by getting Erik Ammon to pop to second.

The game matched the No. 1 pitchers on each staff. Winthrop's Kevin Slowey entered the game with a 5-0 record and a 1.96 earned run average. Hawaii's Stephen Bryant was 4-0 with a 1.08 ERA.

Bryant needed 69 pitches to get through the first three innings. He showed much better command in the fourth and fifth innings, with nine and 11 pitches, respectively, but had run his overall count to 89. Scheduled to start Sunday against Louisiana Tech, Bryant gave way to Ricky Bauer to start the sixth

Slowey retired the Rainbows in order the first time through the lineup on just 30 pitches. His first pitch to all nine batters was a strike.

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FL MORRIS / FMORRIS@STARBULLETIN.COM Joe Spiers of Hawaii slid safely across the plate to score the first run of the game last night.

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The Eagles made the most of Bryant walking Carrara and Rollins, the first two batters he faced, to score a run in the first inning. Jacob Dempsey's one-out single to left brought Carrara home.

That run ended Bryant's string of 21 consecutive scoreless innings.

Carrara's leadoff single, a balk by Bryant, Carrara's steal of third and Dempsey's two-out, soft line-drive single to right gave Winthrop a 2-0 lead in the third inning.

The 'Bows showed signs of solving Slowey's offerings in the fourth inning when Spiers lined a first-pitch single to right. He continued to second when right fielder Carte bobbled the ball. One out later, Isaac Omura dumped a single into short center, scoring Spiers.

Hawaii tied the score in the fifth when Slowey hit Castaneda in the back with a 1-2 pitch. He stole second. Esteban Lopez walked, only the fifth free pass Slowey allowed in 45 2/3 innings.

Castaneda came home on a two-out double into the left-field corner by Schafer Magana, also on a 1-2 pitch. Lopez also tried to score, but was out at the plate, 7-6-2.

Omura put Hawaii ahead 3-2 in the sixth inning when he powered Slowey's first pitch high over both walls in right field for his second home run of the season.

The Eagles created a 3-3 tie with a run in the eighth off Bauer after the right-hander had pitched two perfect innings.

Carrara led off with a ground single to left, stole second with one out and took third on Carte's single to left. Trapasso brought Fisherbaugh in to replace Bauer.

Dempsey grounded Fisherbaugh's first pitch hard to Avila at first. His throw to second forced Carte, but Spiers could not make the return throw to first when he juggled the ball taking it out of his glove allowing Carrara to score.