One pitch was all Matthew Miura needed to see on Monday night to send the University of Hawai‘i baseball team home winners.
Miura, the team's center fielder and leadoff hitter, entered his at-bat in the bottom of the 12th inning 0-for-5 before driving in the first pitch he saw for a walk-off RBI single, putting a bow on Hawai‘i's 3-2 win over Northeastern.
Monday's victory for the Rainbow Warriors clinched a series win over the Huskies after the hosts took three of four. Overall, the 'Bows are 10-2, winning all three of their series in 2025 following a season-opening sweep over Marshall and series win over Wichita State. Prior to their latest win, UH was ranked 26th in the NCAA's initial RPI release, well within the top 40 head coach Rich Hill believes is needed for an NCAA Tournament at-large bid in May.
The Rainbow Warriors will hit the road for the first time in 2025 on Friday, opening Big West Conference play with a three-game series at UC Riverside.
"Honestly, I'm taking it day by day, but I really love these guys in the locker room," Miura, who is currently hitting .319, said after delivering Monday's walk-off knock. "It makes it fun every day. I'm not always in the greatest mood, but being around them every day certainly cheers me up, and it makes me want to play baseball."
Hawai‘i earned a victory on Monday despite a stellar performance from Northeastern starting pitcher Jack Bowery, who lasted all the way until the 11th inning. Across all levels of baseball, it has become increasingly rare for starting pitchers to go the distance in games, but Bowery's efficiency was the backbone behind his staying power on Monday, throwing 108 pitches by the time he was removed in the 11th.
"I haven't really looked at the stats and seeing exactly what he did, but he worked quick," Hill said of Bowery. "He was down in the (strike) zone. Very good changeup. He's going to win a lot of games for them. Real good competitor."
At one point, Bowery retired 19 straight UH batters, striking out a total of eight while allowing just five hits with no walks. Some of his strikeouts came with subtle taunts towards Hawai‘i hitters.
Following the post-series handshake line, members of both teams got tangled up in a postgame fracas. Although shoves were exchanged, the situation was eventually deescalated within a minute.
"I haven't talked to anybody or players, but it was just a lot of shoving. Emotions ran high. There’s some tough New England kids on that team, and we got some tough Hawaiians on this team,” Hill said when asked about what happened.
The quest for Hawai'i's first NCAA regional since 2010 appears to be a promising one for Hill's club through 12 games. The advent of the inaugural Big West baseball tournament from May 21-25 in Fullerton, Calif. was initially supposed to serve as a new opportunity for teams like UH to steal an NCAA Tournament bid. Only five of the 11 teams make the conference tournament, with the fourth and fifth seeds starting the tournament with a single elimination play-in game. Each conference game, starting Friday, will be of equal weight for the Rainbow Warriors in positioning themselves for postseason play.
"Our guys should be confident. Got a lot of work to do in the next three days," Hill said. "We haven't been on the road, but all those things, we train for that. ... We're just doing our job. We're locked in on the process."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
