RICHARD WALKER / RWALKER@STARBULLETIN.COM Jon Hee of Hawaii slid safely into second base when the throw to Trenton Sanders hit Hee in the back of the head.

Kramer quiets Cougars

He allows just a pair of hits in 4 1/3 innings out of the bullpen

Jayson Kramer's only mistake turned into the biggest out for Hawaii last night, as UH beat Chicago State 7-2.

Kramer (2-0) was masterful in allowing just two singles in 4 1/3 innings and getting the win in relief of Cameron Wheeler. Kris Sanchez led the offense with three hits and three RBIs.

But Kramer, a sophomore right-hander, nearly allowed the Cougars to keep their rally alive in the fifth inning when he entered the game.

Pitching to his first batter with the bases-loaded, two outs, a run in and a 4-2 lead, Kramer went to 3-0 on CSU's Kyle Kupiec before filling the count. Then Kupiec lifted a fly ball to fairly deep center that Brandon Haislet caught for the final out.

"The first guy when you come in from the bullpen is always tough because you're trying to see how you feel out there, how the mound is today, whose hole you're throwing out of, and you're not always going to find it right away," UH coach Mike Trapasso said.

"That ball's probably out of every other park we play in other than our own," Trapasso added. "But we'll take it; it got (Kramer) into the next inning feeling good. That was really the only ball up in the zone he threw all night."

Kramer went on to retire the first eight batters he faced, and he allowed two harmless singles.

"He had a great breaking ball," Chicago State coach Vern Hasty said. "We tried to adjust, move up in the box, but he threw the ball hard, too."

Kramer struck out the side in the sixth and finished with seven Ks and no walks.

"It was very simple. I just got ahead with my fastball and got them out with the curveball," Kramer said. "And it's always good when you come in with someone else's runners on base and you bail 'em out, save those runs."

Wheeler, a junior right-hander, struck out four and walked two in his UH starting debut. He allowed eight hits, all singles. He had surgery to remove his spleen in December.

"I worked hard in the spring to get back. All things considered I'm pretty happy with this," Wheeler said. "After the surgery it made me think more about what this year could be like."

Hawaii took a 1-0 lead in the second off CSU starter and loser Sean Murphy (0-1). Sanchez singled to right, scoring Haislet. Haislet had started the inning by walking and advanced on a passed ball.

Haislet tripled in two runs in the third, and Sanchez singled again to score him. Hawaii led 4-0 after three.

Chicago State loaded the bases with three consecutive singles in the fourth, but managed just one run on Kupiec's sacrifice fly.

After two outs in the fifth, the Cougars produced another run. They loaded the bases and one of Murphy's four singles drove in Bryan Packard. Wheeler was then pulled for Kramer.

Sanchez delivered again in the fifth. His double over Packard's head and off the left-center wall scored Jon Hee, who led off the inning with a base hit.

Hawaii completed the scoring with two runs in the seventh. Kevin Macdonald had an RBI single, and Chicago State hurt itself with two errors and a wild pitch in the inning, but also turned a double play when Landon Hernandez struck out and Sanchez was out stealing home.

"You let 'em hang around long enough, you never know what's going to happen in games like this," Trapasso said. "Jayson Kramer came out and did a great job."

Kramer kept his Mid-Pacific Institute teammates, Chris Goya and Chris Freshour, off base in two at-bats each.

"Goya and Freshour are my really good friends and I've been waiting a long time to play them," Kramer said. "I hadn't seen them since they left for college."

Hasty said he was encouraged by the relative closeness of the score after UH won the opener of the five-game series 20-1 on Thursday.

"I hate to use any excuses," Hasty said. "As silly as it may sound, I told the team we're probably the best 0-8 team in the country. We're starting to eliminate silly mistakes here and there. Don't get me wrong, I'm not happy with losing tonight. But fewer mistakes today, and I think (UH) knew they were in a game."

The series continues today with a doubleheader starting at 1:05 p.m. Josh Schneider (1-1) and Mark Rodrigues are expected to start for UH, with Robert Vargas (0-2, 3.86) and Mike Weida (0-2, 5.40) the probables for CSU. The second game is scheduled for seven innings.