’Bows, barely

Hawaii needs 11 innings to knock off Hawaii-Hilo

Derek DuPree's first hit of the season was a timely one, driving home Kevin Fujii with the winning run as Hawaii needed 11 innings to top inter-island rival Hawaii-Hilo 5-4 last night in the baseball season opener for both teams.

Hawaii    UH-Hilo 5 4 NEXT UP vs. Hawaii-Hilo today

DuPree's two-out single was an infield grounder that Hilo second baseman Michael Higa couldn't make a play on.

A crowd of 1,380 at Les Murakami Stadium watched as the Rainbows rallied to tie in the ninth and 10th innings and then win it in the 11th.

Brandon Haislet reached base in all five plate appearances for the Rainbows.

UH managed just three hits in the first seven innings and trailed 3-1 going into the bottom of the eighth.

Josh Schneider got the pitching win for the Rainbows, retiring the Vulcans in order in the top of the 11th.

Right-hander Matt Daly started and went six innings for UH, allowing two runs on four hits.

Higa who went 3-for-4, homered for Hilo, giving the visitors from the Big Island a 2-1 lead.

Both teams had eight hits. The Vulcans committed three errors and the Rainbows none.

The series continues today and concludes tomorrow, with both games starting at 1:05 p.m.

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Every time Hawaii-Hilo seemed poised to end a 13-game losing streak against Hawaii, the Rainbows somehow found an answer.

Senior Derek DuPree, hitless in his first five plate appearances, squeaked a ground ball past Vulcans second baseman Michael Higa to score Kevin Fujii with two outs in the bottom of the 11th inning as UH came back to defeat UH-Hilo 5-4 in a wild season opener for both teams at Les Murakami Stadium.

A crowd of 1,380 saw the Rainbows erase deficits in the ninth and 10th innings to pull out their 14th consecutive win against their in-state rivals.

"I told our guys the only good thing that came out of this game was that we won," Rainbows coach Mike Trapasso said. "It's a performance-based business, but it's going to be a struggle for us if we go out and play the rest of the season like we did the first seven innings. If we play like we did the last four then we have a shot to be OK."

Fujii, who came on to pinch run for Landon Hernandez in the ninth inning, tied the game on an RBI single by pinch-hitter Shane Hoey to send the game into extra innings.

After the two teams exchanged runs in the 10th, Fujii opened the 11th by bunting for a hit on the first pitch from reliever Christian Stephenson.

Fujii reached second on a sacrifice bunt by Nate Young and scored three batters later on the hit by DuPree.

"It's always important to take what they give you," Fujii said. "There were no down moments in this dugout."

UH-Hilo starter Clayton Uyechi befuddled the Rainbows lineup for six innings, allowing just two hits and one unearned run while striking out three.

Matt Daly, who threw a one-hit shutout in his last outing against the Vulcans, wasn't nearly as impressive, but matched Uyechi on the scoreboard until a solo home run by Higa with two outs in the sixth gave the Vulcans a 2-1 advantage.

Higa made it 3-1 in the eighth on an RBI single by A.J. Satele, but that's when the Rainbows offense came to life.

Brandon Haislet, who reached base in all five plate appearances, was hit by a pitch with one out in the eighth. Kevin Macdonald then drove him in with a double to right to make it 3-2.

"It was good to come out here and get this first win under our belts," Haislet said. "Hopefully we can build off this performance and come back and get a couple more (wins)."

After Fujii's run sent the game into extra innings, the Vulcans reclaimed the lead in the 10th. Shane Kessel and Thomas Brown reached on infield singles before Higa drilled a ground ball that got past Rainbows shortstop Nathan Young, which scored Kessel to make it 4-3.

Peter Rodgers had a chance to break the game open, but grounded out with the bases loaded to end the threat.

Hawaii once again answered as Haislet scored on a sacrifice fly by Jeffrey Van Doornum that centerfielder Dayne Ogawa caught at the warning track while falling down.

Senior right-hander Joshua Schneider, who got the victory, blew the Vulcans away in the 11th, striking out the last two batters with a steady diet of fastballs.

"That was big for him to go out there and put up a zero and give us a chance to win," Trapasso said.

The three-game series will continue today at 1:05 p.m.