HONOLULU — Hawaii Pacific coach Dane Fujinaka joked with his staff that it was a lose-lose situation.
When HPU Sharks all-time saves leader Ryan Inouye took the mound in the ninth inning for the University of Hawaii against his former team Wednesday, there were plenty of mixed emotions in the Les Murakami Stadium visitors’ dugout.
“It was like we either come back and make a push here, and our guy obviously has to wear it,” Fujinaka said. “Or he shuts it out like he did, and we lose.”
The 5-foot-9 Kailua High graduate with the unorthodox right-handed mechanics limited the Sharks to a single to record his first save in a Kelly green uniform, as UH beat its crosstown opponent 4-1.
[Note: See below for more photos of Hawaii-Hawaii Pacific baseball.]
Inouye, his face a neutral mask minutes later, resolved to keep his emotions the same way as he stepped on the turf.
“Gotta keep it the same even though I know a lot of the guys over there,” he said.
Afterward, he greeted old teammates and coaches and was warmly received.
Inouye posted 20 saves over the last three years with Division II HPU, including the program single-season record of 13 en route to second-team All-West Region honors in 2025. He learned last season that he had a year of eligibility restored from his time at Menlo at the front end of his college career. But by rule he also would not be able to apply it at the D-II level.
Once the season ended, Fujinaka reached out to UH pitching coach Keith Zuniga and head coach Rich Hill.
“I said, ‘Hey, is there any interest here? I think you guys like perfect fit. He lives five minutes away. He’s a different arm that a lot of your league hasn’t seen.’”
“It was an easy phone call, and he was out of Division II eligibility, so he wouldn’t have been able to come back to us anyway,” Fujinaka added. “I’m just really happy that that UH, Rich gave him a chance to continue playing.”
It was his seventh appearance for the Rainbow Warriors, but first since March 8 against Cal Poly.
Hill acknowledged it was “weird” to put Inouye in a situation to face his old friends. He was the last of seven pitchers to see work in the mid-week bullpen game.
“He went to war with those guys for a few years. But they understand,” Hill said. “And he loves his teammates and he loves his coaches on both sides. I don’t think that entered into it at all. He was just trying to execute pitches and get a save for his team.”
Four UH pitchers — Derek Valdez, Saul Soto, Jack Berg and Zac Tenn — took a combined no-hitter into the seventh, when the Sharks’ Owen Wessel singled to right off Tenn.
Shortstop Elijah Ickes threw Wessel out at home on Ethan Murakoshi’s fielder’s choice. Jayden Gabrillo scored on a wild pitch by Tsubasi Tomii to give the Sharks a momentary lead.
Ben Zeigler-Namoa started a four-run rally in the bottom of the frame with a single to right. Kody Watanabe tied the game with an infield single and catcher Jake Redding drew a bases-loaded walk for the go-ahead score.
After UH faced ex-‘Bows pitcher Rylen Bayne in the bottom of the eighth — Bayne got through old teammates Zeigler-Namoa, Ickes and Draven Nushida cleanly — it was Inouye’s turn to face old friends.
He got Blake Helsper to foul out with a nice sliding catch by third baseman Tate Shimao just in front of the UH dugout.
Noah Hata singled up the middle, but Inouye struck out Carter Jones on eight pitches and Gabrillo grounded out to first to end the game.
Inouye was teammates with all the batters he faced, save Helsper.
“Definitely wanted to get all of them out,” Inouye said. “But Noah got a hit, so he’s definitely gonna hold that one over me.”
UH (13-10, 3-6 Big West) now readies for Cal State Fullerton (11-13, 5-4) in a three-game series starting Friday.
Hill said he appreciated the closely played contest that tested his team’s nerve when the Sharks got on the board first late in the game. HPU hadn’t beaten UH since 1986.
“It felt like the game meant something,” Hill said. “It’s good for our guys to be in that situation heading into Cal State Fullerton. You can’t replicate that in practice.”
As for Fujinaka, it was encouraging to see some of his eight pitchers on the day work their way out of jams, a known trouble spot for his group.
His message to the players was, “Look, guys, like, we can play alongside anybody in the country, as long as we continue to throw strikes, play defense, do the fundamental stuff that we talked about all year.”
HPU (12-14, 10-10 PacWest), which beat Chaminade 11-7 on Tuesday, hosts Fresno Pacific in a four-game series at Hans L’Orange Park next Wednesday.
The Sharks have weathered a literal storm or two.
They had a four-game home series against Westmont washed out by the first of two Kona low storms to hit Oahu. HPU’s practice site at Keehi Lagoon was inundated by knee-deep water — something Fujinaka had never seen.
They will attempt to make three of the Westmont games up on the road, Fujinaka said, in a tough 11-games-in-12-days stretch in mid-April.
Hawaii pitcher Ryan Inouye threw a pitch against his former team, Hawaii Pacific, in the ninth inning. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)
Hawaii third baseman Tate Shimao, sitting, made a sliding catch in foul territory near the UH dugout against Hawaii Pacific. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)
Former Hawaii pitcher Rylen Bayne threw a pitch for HPU against his old team. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)
Hawaii’s Jake Redding got caught in a rundown short of home plate as HPU catcher Brock Wirthgen stood in his way. (Spectrum News/Brian McInnis)
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
