Pinch-hit RBI single in 10th inning leads Hawaii over UC Davis

Ending a five-game slump, pinch hitter Sean Rimmer delivered the go-ahead, run-scoring single in the 10th inning to lift the Hawaii baseball team to today’s 4-2 road victory over UC Davis at Dobbins Stadium on the UCD campus.

The Rainbow Warriors were five outs away from suffering their sixth consecutive Big West loss. But they tied it at 2 in the eighth when Jordan Donahue singled to the left side, went to third on Braydon Wooldridge’s errant pick-off attempt, and scored on Jake Tsukada’s RBI groundout to second.

In the 10th, Elijah Ickes walked and went to second on a wild pitch. Donahue was intentionally walked to create a forceout option. UH head coach Rich Hill then met with the next hitter, Stone Miyao, who had entered as a defensive replacement in the ninth, before summoning Sean Rimmer as a pinch hitter.

Rimmer was hitless in his previous five at bats, a slump that spanned five games over 20 days. But Rimmer smacked a single to center as Ickes raced home to give the ’Bows a 3-2 lead. Austin Machado’s ensuing RBI single ended the scoring.

Reliever Harrison Bodendorf, who allowed one hit in the four scoreless innings, earned the victory to improve to 2-3.

The ’Bows (17-11 overall, 3-5 Big West) evened the three-game series at a victory apiece. Sunday’s series finale begins at 10 a.m. Hawaii time.