Zeigler-Namoa powers Hawai‘i to 14-6 win over UC Irvine
By Kennedy Choo
In the bottom of the fourth inning, with rain pouring down, University of Hawai‘i senior right fielder Ben Zeigler-Namoa stepped into the batter’s box unfazed by the conditions. Battling the elements, he lined a single to left field off UC Irvine pitcher Trevor Hansen.
“Our guys kind of got the message that this is how it’s going to be this weekend, and it didn’t phase them,” head coach Rich Hill said. “Hats off to our guys for showing toughness.”
“We intersquadded in this rain Tuesday, so it definitely gave us a bit of an advantage, in my opinion,” Zeigler-Namoa said.
Following his single, junior third baseman Tate Shimao reached on an error. Junior first baseman Josh Martin then dropped a single into shallow left, loading the bases.
With two outs, senior left fielder Draven Nushida chopped an infield grounder to second and reached safely at first, driving in Zeigler-Namoa. The first baseman then attempted to throw out Shimao as he hustled to third, but the throw sailed over the third baseman, allowing Shimao to score and extend the lead to 2-0.
The Rainbow Warriors (17-13, 7-9 Big West) broke the game open early, scoring 10 runs across the fourth and fifth innings to defeat the Anteaters 14-6 in the opening game of the three-game series.
“It was time to break out,” Zeigler-Namoa said. “When it comes to the fourth, once someone gets a hit, hitting’s contagious—it just keeps going.”
Following Nushida’s RBI and Shimao’s unearned run, graduate second baseman Kody Watanabe punched a two-run single to right field, scoring Martin and Nushida to make it 4-0.
Zeigler-Namoa continued his big night with a two-run double to left, scoring Watanabe and junior shortstop Taylor Takata to extend the lead to 6-0.
“I’m just swinging the bat, man,” Zeigler-Namoa said.
After a six-run fourth inning, Hawai‘i added to its lead with four more runs in the fifth, highlighted by senior outfielder Gabe Wright’s RBI triple to make it 7-0.
UC Irvine (15-18, 6-7 Big West) responded with three runs in the top of the sixth, but Zeigler-Namoa struck again in the bottom of the seventh with another two-run double, pushing the score to 13-3.
Zeigler-Namoa finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and five RBIs.
On the mound, the Rainbow Warriors used four pitchers over nine innings, combining for 222 pitches, with junior reliever Tsubasa Tomii earning the win.
Hawai‘i faces UC Irvine again at 6:35 p.m. Saturday at Les Murakami Stadium.