Hawaii Baseball Team Struggles in Series Opener Against UC Santa Barbara

The Hawaii baseball team continued to struggle in series openers as they fell 8-2 to UC Santa Barbara on Friday. The Rainbow Warriors, who went with a new Friday starter in Randy Abshier, gave up six hits and six runs in a big second inning to the Gauchos.

Despite Abshier lasting until into the sixth inning, the ‘Bows were unable to overcome the early deficit. The team now sits at 3-6 on the first day of series this season, with quality starts proving hard to come by.

Matthew Miura provided a bright spot for Hawaii with his first career home run, while Jake Tsukada also contributed with a run-scoring single. However, UCSB’s offense proved to be too much for the Rainbow Warriors, as they added two more runs in the seventh inning off of Itsuki Takemoto.

Jordan Donahue extended his hitting streak to 14 games, but Austin Machado saw his 29-game on-base streak come to an end. Miura, Tsukada, Dallas Duarte, and Stone Miyao all recorded two-hit games for Hawaii, but it wasn’t enough to overcome UCSB’s strong offensive performance.

The Rainbow Warriors will look to bounce back in the second game of the series on Saturday, weather permitting. With a forecast of foul conditions in the area, the schedule could be altered, but Hawaii will be hoping for a better outcome as they aim to improve their series opener record.