LONG BEACH, Calif. – The University of Hawai'i Rainbow baseball team (12-9) beat the Long Beach State Dirtbags (9-10) 8-2 in a mid-week game at Blair Field Wednesday. Zach Gallagher (1-1) picked up the win, allowing just one run on six hits in six innings pitched. Jesse Moore pitched 2.2 scoreless innings of relief, allowing just one hit to get the save. Nate Underwood (0-1) took the loss for LBSU.

 

Greg Garcia went 2-for-4 with a run and a triple to lead the way for UH. Collin Bennett and David Freitas both had two RBI each while Kevin Macdonald homered in a 1-for-3 game. Matt Roquemore went 1-for-3 with two runs.

 

Long Beach State got on the board first, scoring a run in the bottom of the third to take an early 1-0 edge. UH answered right back in the top of the fourth as Garcia led off the inning with a triple before coming around to score on a sacrifice fly by Freitas, tying it at 1-1.

 

The Rainbows then took the lead in the fifth. Macdonald blasted a solo homer to lead off the inning before Pi'ikea Kitamura sacrificed in Jeffrey Van Doornum, pushing Hawai'i to a 3-1 lead.

 

The Dirtbags pulled back within a run in the seventh inning before the 'Bows jumped out in the eighth. Freitas drew a bases-loaded walk to get it to 4-2 before a two-run single by Bennett pushed UH' lead to 6-2.

 

Hawai'i later added two insurance runs in the top of the ninth as Kitamura scored on an error before Garcia drove in a run to make it 8-2.

 

UH will next play a three-game series at Cal State Fullerton from Friday, March 26, to Sunday, March 28, before closing the trip with a game at San Diego on Monday, March 29.

 

-UH-