HONOLULU – The University of Hawai'i Rainbow baseball team (26-22, 9-10 WAC) used great pitching and a walk-off home run by Jeffrey Van Doornum to sweep a doubleheader against the New Mexico State Aggies (35-19-1, 13-9-1) 7-3 and 2-1 in front of a crowd of 3,316 at Les Murakami Stadium Friday.

 

In the first game, Sam Spangler (3-6) allowed one earned run while striking out a career-high 13 batters in 5.2 innings to get the win. Jesse Moore picked up the save for UH, while Tyler Mack (6-1) took the loss for NMSU.

 

Pi'ikea Kitamura went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run to lead UH. Doornum was 1-for-3 with two runs while Collin Bennett went 1-for-4 with two RBI. Chase Koissian added a 1-for-4 game with two runs.

 

The Aggies got it started in the top of the first, scoring an unearned run to jump ahead 1-0. Then Spangler caught fire, striking out the next seven batters he faced to keep UH within a run.

 

Greg Garcia then tied it up in the bottom of the fourth, driving in Van Doornum. The 'Bows then took the lead in the fifth with a big inning. Kitamura got it started with a two-run single up the middle. He later scored on a wild pitch before Bennett had a two-run single to make it 6-1.

 

NMSU scored a run in the top of the sixth, chasing Spangler out of the game. But UH answered as Koissian scored in the bottom of the inning, making it 7-2. The Aggies would score another run in the top of the eighth, but it wasn't enough as Moore pitched 3.1 innings with four strikeouts to get the save.

 

In the second game, Lenny Linsky (2-0) got the win, pitching 2.1 no-hit innings while Scott Coffman (3-4) got the loss for the Aggies.

 

Van Doornum ended up 2-for-4 in the game with the solo home run. Kevin Macdonald added a 1-for-3 game with one RBI while Kolten Wong went 2-for-4 with a stolen base. Matt Sisto pitched well in his start, allowing one unearned run on two hits and two walks, striking out six.

 

UH got on the board first as Macdonald punched in a RBI-single in the bottom of the second to go ahead 1-0. NMSU answered with an unearned run in the top of the third, tying the game at 1-1.

 

That was how it stayed throughout as the game went into extra innings. Linsky retired the Aggies in order in the top of the eighth. Van Doornum then came up to the plate to lead off the bottom of the inning and took a 1-1 pitch to right-center over the outfield wall to give UH the 2-1 victory.

 

The series concludes Sunday with a 1:05 p.m. game for the home finale at Les Murakami Stadium.

 

-UH-