Hawaii baseball team defeats CSUN 9-1 to complete 3-game sweep

Another dominant pitching performance vaulted the Hawaii baseball team to today’s 9-1 victory over Cal State Northridge at Les Murakami Stadium.

A crowd of 1,790 saw the Rainbow Warriors complete a sweep of the three-games series and extend their winning streak to eight, the longest since the 2022 season. The ’Bows are 29-15 and 12-9.

The Matadors entered the series hitting .292 and averaging 7.6 runs per game. But in the three games, they batted 16-for 95 (.168) and scored two earned runs.

This afternoon, Harrison Bodendorf, who did not allow a hit in the first 4 2/3 innings, collaborated with Connor Harrison and Brayden Marx on a seven-hitter. With input from pitching coach Keith Zuniga, left-handed Bodendorf used a fastball to set up a changeup and slider.

“Hitters looked like they were guessing at times, which helped because even if I missed my spot, they were kind of off balance and didn’t hit it too good,” said Bodendorf, who allowed four hits and a run in 5 2/3 innings.

Down 5-1 in the sixth, CSUN’s Jarren Sanderson hit a drive over the fence in right field for what first-base umpire Gary Gilman ruled to be a game-tying grand slam. But after UH coach Rich Hill vehemently protested that the ball sailed to the right of the foul pole, the four umpires gathered. The umpires then overturned the call, declaring it was a foul ball to negate the grand slam.

“I think they got the reverse home run right,” Hill said, an argument supported by UH fans who were in a special section near the right-field line. “All the Heineken Hangout, as we know, their vision is really clear right about the seventh inning, or whatever. They had it all foul ball, and so did (right fielder) Naighel (Calderon). I think they got it right.”

Sanderson then struck out to end the threat.

But the controversy became moot when the ’Bows scored four runs in the seventh, with two coming on Austin Machado’s fourth home run of the season.