No University of Hawaii baseball team victory would be complete without a heaping helping of contributions from its Big Island contingent.
The roll call from Monday’s 9-7 win at USC: Jacob Igawa slammed a three-run home run, DallasJ Duarte extended his hitting streak to eight games, Stone Miyao collected three hits and Tai Atkins came on to earn the win in relief.
That’s a star-studded list of former BIIF all-stars shining in Los Angeles.
Trailing in the third inning, Igawa drove an outside fastball over the fence in left-center at Dedeaux Field for the Waiakea alum’s team-leading fourth home run of the season. Igawa hit three homers last season, his first at Manoa after transferring from UH-Hilo.
In a game that saw five lead changes, UH (10-16) would trail again in the fifth until Miyao singled to right to drive in a run, and, after an Igawa walk, the Waiakea grad scored the tying run on Matt Wong’s hit. The ‘Bows took the lead in the sixth on Kyson Donahue’s two-out RBI double, and in the eighth Duarte tacked on a run-scoring hit to right.
The former Kamehameha alum has vaulted his average to .273, tied for the team lead, by going 12 for 33 (.364) during his hit streak. He was 2 for 4, singling in the first inning and scoring on Donahue’s double.
UH outhit the Trojans (17-9) 14-8.
Atkins (2-1) entered with two outs in the sixth and worked around control issues in 1 2/3 innings, striking out two and walking three. For the first time in six appearances, the Kamehameha grad wasn’t charged with an run.
Andy Archer, who lost a start Saturday at UC Irvine, pitched two spotless innings for his first save.
Miyao posted his first three-hit game of the season, second of his career, and his second multihit game in row gave the second basemen a modest three-game hit streak. Before that stretch, he was mired in a slump that saw him amass just two hits in seven games.
After four games in four days, UH returns home Tuesday and opens a three-game series Friday against UC Riverside at Les Murakami Stadium.