Hawaii's hopes for a series split were dashed by a potent right-left combo.

James Nygren and Matt Boyd combined on a five-hit shutout and Oregon State blanked Hawaii 5-0 last night to take three of four games in the season-opening baseball series.

A Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,321 had little to cheer for, as Hawaii was shut out for the first time this year. The right-handed Nygren allowed three hits in four innings and was replaced by the lefty Boyd, who earned the victory after holding Hawaii to two hits over the last five innings.

“;In reality I'm disappointed with how we played,”; Hawaii coach Mike Trapasso said. “;We made too many mistakes defensively and that bothers me. We were able to hang with the No. 10 team in the country, even though we didn't come anywhere close to playing a complete game.”;

Hawaii committed an uncharacteristic eight errors in the series, including three yesterday.

Junior Sam Spangler got the start for the Rainbows and struck out seven in 4 2/3 innings.

The only run he allowed came in the second inning on a sacrifice fly by Travis Anderson. Spangler walked Parker Berberet to start the inning and Carter Bell smacked a double to center to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Anderson's fly out scored one run, but Spangler came back to strike out Tyler Smith to end the inning.

“;I've got a lot of things to work on,”; said Spangler, who threw 78 pitches. “;I had a lot of adrenaline going and felt good, but Coach Trap is real good about keeping guys on a pitch count and keeping people from getting hurt.”;

Spangler, who was on track to be Hawaii's opening-day starter before arm fatigue limited his preparation time, allowed just two hits and two walks, but picked up the loss.

“;He really settled down over the last couple of innings after struggling early with his fastball command,”; Trapasso said. “;Overall he pitched pretty well for not having any command of anything to start the game.”;

Oregon State turned double plays in three consecutive innings as Hawaii left seven runners on base in the first five innings.

Hawaii squandered a big scoring chance in the fifth inning after Sean Montplaisir drew a leadoff walk. Breland Almadova, who had two hits to snap a season-opening 0-for-8 skid, laid down a bunt that Boyd fielded, but his throw to first ended up in right field.

Montplaisir got to third and tried to score on the play, but was gunned down at the plate by Andy Quiring.

“;We always want to protect no outs at home and at third,”; Trapasso said. “;We made a mistake there and that's on us.”;

Adalberto Santos hit a key RBI double in the seventh inning for Oregon State and Bell had two more hits to finish the series 7-for-13 with six runs scored.

“;It's a tough road trip to start the season,”; Oregon State coach Pat Casey said. “;A 6-hour plane flight, the time change, you have to be mentally tough and that's something we've focused on coming out here.”;

Hawaii has little time to rest as it returns to the field on Thursday for the opener of a four-game series against Oregon at 6:35 p.m.

“;We know we've got a lot to work on,”; Spangler said. “;Oregon State is a really good team and exposed a lot of our flaws and there's a lot of things we need to correct.”;

Note

Former Hawaii baseball and football player Kevin Gilbride Jr. has been added to the New York Giants coaching staff as the offensive quality control coach.

Gilbride's father is the team's offensive coordinator. Head coach Tom Coughlin announced the hiring yesterday.

OREGON STATE 5, HAWAII 0