UH Roundup: Baseball Team Drops Series Opener Against UC Davis

The University of Hawaii baseball team dropped its series opener Thursday night to UC Davis, 5-3, at Les Murakami Stadium. The Rainbows suffered their fifth straight loss and fell to 14-12, while the Aggies improved to 11-10.

UC Davis scored three of its five runs in the first inning to set the tone for the evening. Matt Sisto (4-3) allowed three singles and hit two batters to open the game, forcing the Bows to play catch-up for the remainder of the game.

Pi’ikea Kitamura led the Bows at the plate with a pair of hits along with one run and one RBI. Trevor Podratz hit his team-leading second home run, a two-run opposite way shot to ignite the Bows and cut the UCD lead to 4-2.

Dayne Quist (4-0) tossed seven complete innings for the Aggies win. He allowed two runs on four hits with nine strikeouts. Tino Lipson batted 3-5 with two runs to lead UC Davis at the plate.

Sisto was tagged with the loss, but delivered a solid outing following his early struggles. He pitched eight complete innings, allowing four earned runs on nine hits with three strikeouts. Jesse Moore came in to pitch a scoreless ninth inning.

2,503 tickets were issued for the game, with 1,208 fans coming through the turnstiles. The Rainbows and Aggies continue their four-game series today at 6:35 p.m.

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The No. 16/18 Hawaii softball team (26-3, 2-1 WAC) is off to the Mainland for a pivotal eight-game road trip which includes a pair of three-game Western Athletic Conference series beginning against defending champion New Mexico State (18-16, 0-3 WAC) and ending at BYU. Friday’s game against the Aggies is at noon (Hawaii Time) and will be broadcasted on ESPNU later that day at 4 p.m (HT).

The Rainbow Wahine are coming off of a 2-1 series win over San Jose State last week. Reigning WAC Pitcher of the Week, Stephanie Ricketts (16-2 2-0 WAC), earned the two wins in which she did not give up an earned run in 13.0 innings of work. She fired her fifth career no-hitter in the series finale against the Spartans, with three walks and five strike outs. Ricketts and the UH defense did not allow a runner past second base. In UH’s lone loss in the series, San Jose State came back to score four late runs after the Bows had a 2-0 lead going into the sixth inning. Kaia Parnaby suffered her first loss of the season, dropping her record to 10-1 overall and 0-1 in WAC action.

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The Hawaii men’s volleyball team will host its final two home matches of the season against No. 9 Long Beach State for a critical Mountain Pacific Sports Federation series tonight and and Saturday, March 31. Start time for both matches is 7 p.m. at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Following Saturday’s match, seniors Steven Hunt, Jarrod Lofy, Nick Castello and Tony Crutchfield will be honored during the traditional Senior Night ceremony.

The 14th-ranked Warriors (7-16, 4-14 MPSF) are fighting for their postseason lives and currently stand in 11th place in the 12-team league. UH needs to finish in the top eight in order to qualify for the MPSF Tournament for the third consecutive season.

The 49ers (11-12, 6-10) are tied for seventh place with Cal State Northridge with identical 6-10 league records and are two wins ahead of Pacific, UC San Diego and UH in the win column. The Beach snapped a four-match losing streak last weekend with a five-set home victory over No. 4 Brigham Young, winning 20-18 in the final set.

UH has lost its last six home matches and are currently in the midst of a 1-11 stretch since Feb. 10.

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The UH women’s sand volleyball tasted defeat for the first time this season with a pair of 4-1 losses to Florida State in a Thursday afternoon doubleheader at the Seminole Sand Volleyball Complex.

After breezing through the competition in its first two events, the Rainbow Wahine (1-2) ran into a hot Seminole squad that improved to a perfect 11-0 in dual matches this season. UH had previously run through Hawaii Pacific and Nittadai in a home tournament and Jacksonville in a dual match two days earlier without so much as dropping a set.

Despite the loss, UH was able to take down FSU’s No. 1 team of Aurora Newgard and Brittany Tiegs in both matches. Top duo Emily Hartong and Elizabeth Stolzman rallied for a 17-21, 21-17, 15-12 win over the pair in match one, while Jane Croson and Ashley Lee teamed up for a 21-18, 21-19 win on court 2 during the back end of the doubleheader.

UH provided stiff competition for the Seminoles who like UH had steamrolled through its previous competition. Despite dropping the first match by a 4-1 count, four of the five courts were hotly contested. Monica Stauber and Alex Griffiths battled Caitlin Haworth and Jeassica McGregor all the way until the end before falling 21-6, 17-21, 16-14. The combos of Larissa Nordyke-Ashley Lee (21-17, 21-17) and Jane Croson-Ginger Long (22-20, 21-18) were also on the wrong end of tight matches.

However, the second part of the doubleheader was not as close as FSU ramped up its play with straight set wins on four of five courts. Croson and Lee picked up UH’s lone point on court 2, while the pair of Courtney Leiepali and Jade Vorster nearly pulled out another point for the Bows before falling 24-22, 21-19 at court 4.

The Rainbow Wahine will conclude its tour through Florida with the North Florida Sand Invitational Saturday, March 31, and April 1 in Jacksonville. Joining UH in the tournament will be College of Charleston, Florida Atlantic, Florida  State, Jacksonville, UAB and host North Florida.