Quentin Torres-Costa may have found his calling, and it’s coming out of the bullpen.
The Waiakea graduate struck out two batters in the ninth to earn a save for the second consecutive night Saturday, and Hawaii beat Cal State Northridge 3-1 in Honolulu.
Tyler Brashears (5-4) struck out six in eight strong inning before turning the ball over to Torres-Costa, who retired the side in order for his third save.
The sophomore left-hander started three games earlier this season, but he was sent to the bullpen after allowing eight runs in a short start Feb. 27 at Pepperdine.
He’s thrived in relief and hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last 14 1.3 innings pitched. In that span, he’s allowed five hits and six walks with 22 strikeouts, chipping his ERA down from 10.80 to 5.27.
The Rainbow Warriors (14-23, 5-6 Pacific West Conference) will go for the three-game sweep Sunday.
Hawaii went to work in the first inning against starter Jerry Keel and the Matadors (22-15, 2-9). Stephen Ventimilia led off with a single, moved to second on Alan Baldwin’s bunt hit and scored on Alex Sawelson’s single to center. Baldwin scored when Eric Ramirez singled through the left side.
Ventimilia drove in a run with his second hit in the sixth.
Hilo graduate Chayce Ka’aua was 1 for 4 and Konawaena graduate JJ Kitaoka was 0 for 3 with a walk.
Setting the record straight: A story about Friday’s game referenced Torres-Costa’s statistics in league contests, not overall.
Volleyball
Fresh off a 16-game winning streak, UH suddenly has a two-game losing streak after it fell in five sets, 25-22, 21-25, 25-23, 18-25, 13-15, against No. 6 BYU in Provo, Utah.
UH (23-5, 18-4 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) made a season-high 24 service errors and finished second in the conference behind No. 4 UC Irvine. The Rainbow Warriors open the league quarterfinals April 25 at home against No. 11 Long Beach State.
Despite reaching 23 wins for the first time since 2006, its losing streak in Provo reached 14. Senior Brook Sedore notched 21 kills, including two that denied the Cougars ( 17-9, 14-8) match points. A UH antenna violation ended the match.
Softball
Brittany Hitchcock pitched a four-hitter, Lindsey Willmon, Kayla Wartner each compiled two hits and drove in a run, and the Wahine salvaged a doubleheader split by beating Cal Poly 4-1.
Hitchcock (13-6) struck out two and walked one and Willmon score two runs for UH (26-19, 7-5).
In an 8-1 loss in the opener, the Mustangs (22-23, 5-6) got to Kanani Aina Cabrales (12-13) for 11 hits in six innings.
