HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i Rainbow baseball team (15-12) rallied late, but fell to the  Gonzaga Bulldogs (11-14) 7-6 in front of a near-capacity crowd of 4,057 at Les Murakami Stadium Saturday. Matt Sisto (3-4) took the loss for UH while Ryan Carpenter (2-3) got the win for the Zags. Mark Phillips also earned a save for Gonzaga.

After trailing by a big margin for most of the game, the Rainbows made a torrid comeback in the bottom of the ninth. David Freitas led off the inning with a double. Then, after back-to-back walks to load the bases, pinch hitter Christian Johnson hit a RBI-single to cut it to 7-4. Sean Montplaisir later added a RBI-single with Kevin Macdonald scoring on a Gonzaga error to get it to 7-6. But Phillips got the Zags out of the jam, inducing a game-ending double play to close out the narrow victory.

Collin Bennett led UH, going 2-for-3 with a double and a run. Macdonald added a run and an RBI.

The 'Bows got the scoring started in the bottom of the first as Matt Roquemore came in on a wild pitch.

Gonzaga then put up a two-run third and a three-run fifth to jump ahead 5-1. Hawai'i came back, scoring a run in the fifth and another in the sixth to cut it back to 5-3.

But the Zags answered, posting much-needed insurance runs in the seventh and eighth innings to get the lead back to 7-3, which turned out to be just enough for the win.

The series ends tomorrow with a 1:05 p.m. game at Les Murakami Stadium.

-UH-