HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i Rainbow baseball team (16-13, 0-1 WAC) had a late rally fall short to the Fresno State Bulldogs (18-12, 1-0) 8-6 in front of a crowd of 3,625 in the WAC-opener at Les Murakami Stadium Friday. Josh Slaats (3-2) took the loss while Josh Poytress (4-2) got the win for the Bulldogs. Cody Kendall also picked up the save for Fresno State.

Kolten Wong led the way for Hawai'i in the loss, going 3-for-4 with four RBI, a triple and a run. Jeffrey Van Doornum also was 3-for-4 with a run while David Freitas had a 2-for-5 game.

The Bulldogs got the scoring going as they scored two runs after an error by the 'Bows in the top of the second inning.

Wong cut into that lead, hitting a sacrifice fly to left to pull UH within a run at 2-1.

Fresno State added three runs in the top of the sixth, then Dusty Robinson hit a two-run homer to right, getting the Bulldog lead to 7-1. They would also add another run in the top of the ninth before the 'Bows started to rally.

The Rainbows opened the bottom of the ninth with three straight singles. After Greg Garcia singled the first run in, Wong came up big with a three-run triple to left center, cutting it back to 8-5. Wong later scored on a wild pitch before Kendall walked the bases loaded. But Kendall settled down for the Bulldogs, striking out the final Hawai'i batter to close out the 8-6 victory.

The series continues tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at 3:05 p.m. at Les Murakami Stadium.

-UH-