UH-Manoa: Big Islanders help baseball ‘Bows to victory

Tyler Brashears and Quintin Torres-Costa are starting to make quite a team.

Brashears pitched eight strong innings Saturday, Torres-Costa picked up the save, and Hawaii beat Long Beach State 1-0 in Long Beach, Calif.

Hilo graduate Chayce Ka’aau drove in the only run of the game with a sacrifice fly in the fourth after Alex Sawelson led off with a double for UH (17-26, 8-9 Big West).

Brashears (7-4) struck out three and allowed only four hits and two walks. Torres-Costa, a Waiakea graduate, allowed a leadoff single but wiped the runner out with a double play and secured his sixth save. In Brashears’ last start April 25, he pitched 7 2/3 innings and Torres-Costa got the final four outs in a 1-0 victory against UC Santa Barbara.

Torres-Costa went two innings Friday to earn the save in the Rainbow Warriors’ 7-4 victory against Long Beach (23-19, 8-9 Big West), and the left-handed sophomore has gone 11 consecutive appearances without allowing an earned run.

Ka’aau doubled for the second consecutive game finishing 1 for 3 after going 2 for 4 on Friday. His .284 average is the highest on the team for all players with more than three at-bats.

Softball

Rachel Lack hit a two-run home run, Brittany Hitchcock went the distance despite allowing 12 hits, and the Wahine won 2-1 on the road to hand Cal State Northridge its first series loss this season.

After the Matadors won the opener of the doubleheader 2-0, Lack hammered her eighth home run in the fourth after Kristina Akiona reached on an error.

Hitchcock improved to 16-7, striking out one and walking two.

Kanani Aina Cabrales also went the distance for UH (29-22,10-8) in the first game, allowing two runs on eight hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

Zoe Conley (19-4) tossed a three-hitter for Northridge (40-13, 15-3).

UH won 4-3 on Friday.