Hawaii pulls away to beat Cal State Fullerton in baseball

Center fielder Matt Wong scored the go-ahead run without touching the plate and Hawaii scored the first two of a five-run seventh without swinging the bat in today’s 14-10 baseball victory over Cal State Fullerton at Goodwin Field in Orange County, Calif.

After falling 7-6 on Friday night, the ’Bows rebounded to even the three-game series and end the Titans’ six-game winning streak. The ’Bows improved to 13-9 overall and 3-2 in the Big West. In dropping to 13-9 and 6-2, the Titans missed a chance to move into a first-place tie with UC San Diego.

The ’Bows amassed 19 hits, with Wong reaching base six times, going 4-for-4 with two doubles and two walks.

With the score tied at 6 in the sixth, Wong appeared to be thrown out at the plate while sprinting from second on Kyson Donahue’s single to left. But the umpire called catcher Max Ortega for obstruction, and Wong was awarded the go-ahead run despite not touching the plate.

The ’Bows loaded the bases with one out in the seventh. Ryan Faulks, who was summoned to relieve Peyton Jones, threw eight pitches — none for strikes — as Ben Zeigler-Namoa and Wong drew back-to-back RBI walks. Donahue’s two-run double and Jacob Igawa’s RBI single padded the UH lead to 12-6.

UH freshman left-hander Harrison Bodendorf pitched the final five innings, allowing four runs, to improve to 2-1. Bodendorf threw 99 pitches, 66 of them for strikes.