Sweet-swinging Hawaii baseball team completes road sweep of UC San Diego

The Hawaii baseball team decided it was far too early to call it a season.

Though a conference championship remains statistically improbable, UH clawed its way back to .500 in the Big West by beating UC San Diego 15-10 on Sunday and completing a three-game weekend sweep in La Jolla, Calif.

It was the first time UH swept a team on the road since it did it against UCSD on its last visit to Triton Ballpark in May 2022.

The Rainbow Warriors (25-15, 9-9 BWC) broke out the bats for the second straight day, compiling 15 hits with home runs from Kyson Donahue and Sean Rimmer, plus 12 team walks. Donahue’s three-run shot in the third, his team-best fifth of the year, was his second in as many days.

UH built a nine-run lead in the fourth inning when a pitch with the bases loaded hit Naighel Ali‘i Calderon. The margin grew to as large as 12 when Donahue hit a double down the rightfield line, followed by a sacrifice fly by Dallas Duarte.

UCSD (26-14, 13-8) scored nine runs in the final four innings to make the final more respectable.

Harrison Bodendorf got the start and went three innings with one run allowed. Itsuki Takemoto (2-1) worked a scoreless fourth to pick up the win.

Donahue and Jake Tsukada drove in four runs apiece. Duarte went 3-for-5 and Jordan Donahue, Matthew Miura and Rimmer recorded multi-hit games.

Freshman Kerim Orucevic went 3-for-3 after entering as a pinch hitter for UCSD.

The Tritons will be a full-fledged Division I member the next time UH and UCSD play. This is their final season as a transitional D-I team that is ineligible for the postseason.

The ‘Bows return home for another quick turnaround for a game against a local Division II opponent. UH hosts Hawaii Hilo (19-30) for the Vulcans’ season finale at 6:35 p.m. Tuesday.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.