FULLERTON, CALIF. — Inspiration can be measured on a sign on the outfield fence at Goodwin Field: “Only 1,544 miles to Omaha.”
For the Hawaii baseball team, that dream path to the College World Series became narrower following Thursday’s 7-5 loss to top-seeded UC Irvine in the double-elimination round of the Big West Championship tournament.
In falling short in a comeback attempt, the Rainbow Warriors now must navigate the last-chance bracket. They faced Cal State Fullerton late Friday afternoon.
Down four runs and facing the league’s pitcher of the year, UH’s Ben Zeigler-Namoa smacked a three-run homer — his second in as many days — off Ricky Ojeda to close the ’Bows to 6-5 in the top of the seventh.
But UCI third baseman Will Bermudez singled home Blake Penso for an insurance run in the eighth.
Max Martin got the final five outs for his league-leading 14th save. Ojeda, who pitched three innings in relief of starter Riley Kelly, earned the victory to improve to 13-0.
“I want to tip the cap to UC Irvine,” UH coach Rich Hill said. “They used Ricky Ojeda in the right spots all season long. That’s why he’s the conference pitcher of the year. I thought Max Martin came in and did a good job. They did a great job of matchups. And they’re very well coached. I love our guys. I think we out-hit ’em. That’s the No. 20 team in the country. Just putting together solid at bats just every inning. … Man, we’ve got some grinders on the team.”
UCI coach Ben Orloff said the Anteaters’ 40th victory “was kind of emblematic of a lot of our wins this year. We scored first. We get a good enough start. We go to Ojeda. We go to Max. … Some really good defense. Will (Bermudez) makes a great play in that game, a 5-4-3 double play. (Center fielder Jacob) McComb’s really good catch. (Right fielder) Chase (Call) with a good play going right.”
In their first game since Saturday, Orloff opened with right-hander Riley Kelly, who moved into the No. 1 role in March. The plan was to have Kelly pitch to the middle innings, then give way to the left-handed Ojeda.
The Anteaters were helped when they scored six runs in the first two innings.
Bermudez opened the first with an opposite-field single to left field. He scooted to second on UH starter Itsuki Takemoto’s wild pitch. Takemoto then hit Colin Yeaman with a breaking ball that did not break. Anthony Martinez bounced a single up the middle to bring home Bermudez and send Yeaman to third. Jacob McCombs then pulled a sharp grounder toward first. Zeigler-Namoa fielded the ball, stepped on first base and fired to shortstop Jordan Donahue at second. On review, it was ruled Donahue’s tag on Martinez was late. Yeaman scored on the play for a 2-0 lead.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Zeigler-Namoa said of stepping on first instead of trying to throw out Yeaman at the plate. “I talked to some of the coaches after. They said there was a play at home. I probably should have checked. I think I could have made a play there, but definitely something to look at and adjust on.”
Call singled home the Anteaters’ third run.
Takemoto exited after hitting James Castagnola with a pitch leading off the second inning. Frankie Carney singled and Bermudez walked to load the bases.
One out later, Martinez hit a potential double-play grounder toward second baseman Shunsuke Sakaino. But with the ball went under Sakaino’s glove as Carney and Castagnola scored. McComb’s RBI groundout made it 6-2.
UH reliever Liam O’Brien, Ethan Thomas and Freddy Rodriguez combined to allow four hits and one run the next seven innings. Thomas, who has fully recovered from an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery, pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings.
UH’s bullpen helped set up Zeigler-Namoa’s lefty-on-lefty showdown against Ojeda.
“Faced Ojeda earlier in the year when we played Irvine at their place,” Zeigler said of the Anteaters’ three-game sweep. “He had a lot of success against us. So, obviously, we had to make some adjustments. For me, my adjustment was to see a little more down and stay on top of the ball a little bit. He has some good ride. I got up there, swung through the first one, made a little bit of an adjustment, got the pitch I wanted and caught a barrel and just fortunate it got out.”
But Bermudez gave the Anteaters a cushion, and the relievers did the rest.
“I think that’s the strength of the team, and how good those guys have been late.” Orloff said of Ojeda and Martin. “When we lost last Thursday, it was the third time we lost in two years when we were leading in the seventh or later. When we can get the lead in the back half of a game, we’re really good. You win those games with a really good bullpen, a really good defense. .. I know all of us feel a little sense of relief when Ojeda comes in through the gates. We all feel pretty good about it, and Max was clutch out there, getting five outs there.”
