Hawaii second baseman Stephen Ventimilia turns a double play on the Gauchos as UCSB’s Scott Quinlan slides into second base in Sunday’s Big West Conference game in Santa Barbara. (Presidio Sports Photo)
The Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors used 16 hits to defeat No. 10 UC Santa Barbara 12-4 in the rubber game Sunday afternoon at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
The Gauchos lost their first series of the year, breaking their streak of 15 straight unbeaten series dating back to April 2013 when they lost a series to Cal State Fullerton. The series loss also broke their streak of winning 10 straight series of three games or more.
UCSB’s loss sent them to 19-5 on the season, while Hawai’i improved to 14-13.
Leading the way offensively for the Gauchos were Peter Maris and Robby Nesovic, both collecting two hits on the day. Tyler Kuresa and Scott Quinlan each chipped in an RBI single.
Hawaii’s offense batted around in the fourth inning and scored eight runs, giving UCSB starter Domenic Mazza an early exit and putting the game out of reach for the Gauchos.
After allowing the two-run homer to Marc Flores in the first, Mazza settled down and pitched two shutout innings before running into trouble in the fourth. With a runner on first and one out, Hawai’i collected five straight singles, knocking Mazza out of the game.
Mazza took the loss and moved to 2-2 after pitching 3.1 innings and allowing eight earned runs. Greg Mahle filled in nicely, pitching 3.2 innings of one-run ball and adding a pinch-hit RBI single.
Hawai’i starter Jarrett Arakawa pitched six innings and allowed two runs, earning the win and moving to 2-0. Scott Kuzminsky pitched the final three innings for the Rainbow Warriors, recording his first save of the season.
Flores led the Rainbow Warriors offensively, going 2 for 5 with four RBIs, including a two-run homer in the top of the first inning to give the team a lead that they would not relinquish.
The Gauchos travel to Cal Poly this Friday to kick off a three-game series, with first pitch beginning at 6:00 p.m.
