HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i Rainbow baseball team (26-22, 9-10 WAC) fell to the New Mexico State Aggies (36-19-1, 14-9-1) 10-7 in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,513 on senior day at Les Murakami Stadium Sunday. Connor Little (2-1) took the loss while Ryan Beck (3-0) got the win for NMSU. Steven Anderson picked up the save for the Aggies.

 

Greg Garcia went 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run. Collin Bennett was 2-for-5 with two RBI and a double while Jeffrey Van Doornum went 2-for-3 with a run, a RBI and a stolen base. Jesse Moore also came in off the bench to go 2-for-2 with a run.

 

Nate Shaver got the offense started on the first pitch of the game, hitting a lead-off homer to right for the Aggies. But Hawai'i had the answer as Garcia drove in a run before Bennett hit a two-run double, making it 3-1.

 

Garcia extended UH's lead in the third, driving in a run to make it 4-1. But the NMSU offense then got rolling. In the top of the fifth, the Aggies scored five runs on five-consecutive base hits, taking the 6-4 edge. They then extended that lead in the sixth, posting four more runs to make it 10-4.

 

Hawai'i had a chance to pull it back in the bottom of the sixth, but grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and one out. UH did post a small rally in the bottom of the eighth, scoring three runs to get it back to 10-7. But the 'Bows left the bases loaded in the inning, contributing to their 12 runners left on base in the game, and the three-run defeat.

The game marked the last home game for seniors Josh Chevalier, Kevin Fujii, Christian Johnson, Nate Klein, Harrison Kuroda, Kevin Macdonald and Matt Roquemore, who were all honored in a post-game ceremony.

 

The Rainbows will now head on the road for the final week of the regular season, playing a mid-week game at Stanford before closing the WAC season with four games at San Jose State.

 

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