With Manoa Valley theatrics, Elijah Ickes sprinted home on a wild pitch in the ninth inning to deliver the Hawaii baseball team a 4-3 victory over Gonzaga before 2,238 at Les Murakami Stadium.
Down 3-2 in the ninth, third baseman Tate Shimao hit a one-out single to right field.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity,” said Shimao, who was hitless in 13 at-bats in the first three games of this season-opening series. “My coaches and teammates trusted me, even though I was struggling, to go out there and get the job done.”
Ickes followed with a single to left.
“It was an offspeed pitch,” Ickes said. “See ball, hit ball. I was thankful to have the opportunity to pass the torch.”
The Bulldogs then summoned Frank Willius, a 6-foot-4 left-hander, to face the left-swinging Ben Zeigler-Namoa. The scouting report was Willius had a temperamental slider.
“We were expecting him the whole weekend,” Zeigler-Namoa said. “I saw (videos of Willius) multiple times. I was ready to hit. I was ready to hit the whole weekend.”
After Willius buried his first pitch, a slider, Zeigler-Namoa figured, “I was going to get a heater. And I got a heater, and hit it up the middle.”
Zeigler-Namoa’s grounder eluded the reach of second baseman Hudson Shupe as Shimao raced home with the tying run and Ickes headed to third. Head coach Rich Hill, who was coaching third, went into a prone position.
“I didn’t want Elijah to have any other thought in his mind than to getting down like I was,” Hill said.
Ickes slid safety into third, a ruling upheld following an appeal by Gonzaga.
That brought up the right-swinging Jake Redding, who transferred from Sierra College last summer. Redding’s intent was to”stay small and hit a nice line drive up the middle and get Elijah in. I was going to swing, but thankfully I saw (the baseball) off (Willius’) hand.”
Willius’ pitched bounced past catcher Luca DiPaolo.
“Coach (Hill) told me to look for the passed ball,” Ickes said, “and it was the first pitch, and the rest is history.”
Redding said: “Elijah got a good jump on it, and we scored and won the game.”
The ’Bows also won three of four to claim the series.
It was a game of redemption for several ’Bows. Liam O’Brien, who suffered arm discomfort during a recent scrimmage, allowed two hits in five scoreless innings against his former team. O’Brien pitched for the Bulldogs in 2024.
Shimao redshirted in 2025 after transferring from Cal Poly.
“Tate’s been our MVP in the fall and also in January,” Hill said. “He just went off in Japan (during an exhibition tour).”
Despite struggling in this series, Shimao is “our best option (to lead off and play third),” Hill insisted. “He stuck with it. He didn’t drag the blanket, and didn’t let it affect his defense. I’m happy for him.”
Hill also acknowledged hitting coach Dave Nakama’s contributions, particularly in video sessions, in helping Shimao, Zeigler-Namoa and several newcomers.
“He’s been a stalwart of this staff,” Hill said of Nakama. “It’s his passion. At 2 in the morning, 4 in the morning, you can probably see him on video.
If he’s not on video breaking down pitchers and looking for any kind of advantage, he’ll be in the (batting) cage making guys better. He has our guys extremely prepared.”
