Vinnie Catricala hopes he has given Hawaii the shot in the arm it was looking for.

The junior third baseman blasted a walk-off, three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning as the Rainbows found themselves on the right end of a 7-4 victory over Mississippi State last night at Les Murakami Stadium.

Hawaii (4-6) snapped a three-game losing streak as Catricala's second home run of the season put a crowd of 1,406 on its feet as he rounded the bases.

“;It's just huge for us man,”; Catricala said. “;I was happy to be the guy. (The pitch) just so happened to be middle-in and I was able to put it out.”;

The Rainbows had lost their previous two games in heart-breaking fashion. Four of their six losses have come by two runs or less, and last night was another nip-and-tuck game. Ryan Duffy's two-run homer in the sixth tied it at 4 before Catricala's heroics in the ninth.

“;That's a big win for us that maybe can get us going against a quality team like the Bulldogs,”; Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “;But we've got to do better than get four hits in a game. We're not going to score seven runs on four hits.”;

The Rainbows made those hits count, taking advantage of crucial two-out walks by the Bulldogs (8-2).

Mississippi State starter Nick Routt lost his command in the second inning, throwing 10 straight balls as Landon Hernandez and Shane Hoey both walked with two outs. Ryan Morford, starting his first game as the designated hitter, brought in the first run with a single to score Hernandez. Greg Garcia, who hit leadoff for the first time, followed with a single of his own to score Hoey.

Mark Goforth tried to throw Morford out advancing to third, but the ball bounced away and into the dugout, allowing Morford to score and Garcia to take third. Routt was then called for a balk to score Garcia and give UH a 4-0 lead.

The Bulldogs chipped away at the lead and trailed 4-2 in the sixth inning when Duffy connected on a two-run home run off UH starter Nate Klein to tie it at 4. Luke Adkins led off with a single and advanced to second before Duffy's two-out blast to right-center.

Klein's night ended after seven innings. He allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

“;He had one bad pitch, credit Duffy on the home run,”; Trapasso said. “;He hung in there and kept us in the game. To give us seven innings, that's another good outing.”;

Sophomore Sam Spangler came on in the eighth and allowed a leadoff single before striking out the next two batters to help get out of the eighth.

In the ninth, Grant Hogue smoked a one-out double to right, but Spangler left him stranded, striking out Frank Rawdow to end the inning.

“;I gave up a double and then struck a guy out on a pitch I missed,”; Spangler said. “;I was just having fun out there, that's the key.”;

Spangler (1-0) then watched his roommate end the game with a home run to give him his first victory of the season. Reliever Lee Swindle recorded the first two outs, but walked Garcia and Kolten Wong before Catricala stepped to the plate.