With an opportunity to prove it belongs among the best teams in the Big West Conference, the University of Hawai‘i baseball team dug deep to do just that.
The Rainbow Warriors took two of their three games against No. 15 UC Santa Barbara over the weekend at Les Murakami Stadium. Hawai‘i's series win over UCSB, the presumed favorite in the Big West, clinched the program's first series win over a ranked opponent since topping Oregon in 2010.
After the Gauchos took the series opener on Friday, the 'Bows won on Saturday to break UCSB's 25-game conference winning streak that dated back to 2024. Then on Sunday, UH took the rubber match 1-0 behind an inspired pitching performance from true freshman Cooper Walls and staff staple Isaiah Magdaleno.
"It feels great," Hawai‘i baseball coach Rich Hill said following Sunday's win. "I'm more proud. I think it feels better with how we pitched, how we kind of out-toughed those guys. That's a nationally ranked team and that's just a great performance, gutty performance, especially by our pitchers."
On Friday, the Gauchos won the series opener 2-1 in a classic pitcher's duel. MLB Draft prospect Tyler Bremner kept the Rainbow Warriors at bay with eight strikeouts in six innings, allowing one run over his four hits and three walks.
To counter, UH trotted out Itsuki Takemoto for the first series-opening start of his career. He lasted 5.2 innings, striking out six with four hits and two runs allowed. Regular Friday night starter Sebastian Gonzalez was summoned in the sixth inning and did the rest of the pitching for the Rainbow Warriors, tossing 3.1 scoreless frames to go with his six strikeouts. But the 'Bows couldn't scratch another run across, falling narrowly to the Gauchos.
On Saturday, Takemoto was in the lineup as the designated hitter. His 3-run home run, the first of his college career, broke the game open in the fourth inning and set the tone in a a 15-7 rout.
Hawai‘i turned to true freshman Cooper Walls prior to Sunday's decisive game. Jared Quandt's RBI single in the fourth inning was all the run support he needed, as Walls took a shutout into the eighth inning. Walls allowed just four hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
"Everything felt good. I got a good night's sleep last night," Walls said. "My body was rested. I felt good. Coming to this game, I knew we had win a series."
The Rainbow Warriors improved to 14-5 overall and 3-3 in Big West play, recovering from a series loss the week prior to UC Riverside. UC Santa Barbara, meanwhile, fell to 15-4 overall and 4-2 in conference games.
"We had a rough series and growth, and obviously a tough one, but we bounce back. We're a tough team," Walls said. "Getting stabbed in the heart there is obviously tough, but we bounce back. Santa Barbara is a really good program. We're tough, and that win is huge for us."
After Walls got pulled in the eighth inning, Isaiah Magdaleno took the ball and finished the game, notching a six-out save.
Magdaleno threw 48 pitches in a nine-out save on Saturday night and returned to throw 19 on Sunday, turning in a workhorse performance for the second week in a row. Magdaleno threw 44 pitches over three innings against UC Riverside on March 8 and returned to throw 10 pitches the next day.
"I feel great," Magdaleno said after Sunday's game. "I mean, the fans, they really just pump me up, just putting it all out for my team. Honestly, just going out there and trying to get the team to win and do all I can."
"The man's a machine," Hawai‘i pitching coach Keith Zuniga said of Magdaleno. "He gets after in the weight room every single day. His arm care is important to him. His mobility is important to him. His catch play is important to him. His short boxes, his bullpens throughout the week. It's no surprise when he goes out there and does it, because he's doing it Monday through Friday, so when he's out here, that's his time to shine, and he's made the most of it for sure."
UH returns to action for a three-game home series from Saturday to Monday against UC Davis.
"We sold this thing out Saturday night. This is a huge Sunday crowd. Friday was great. Fans were just treated as some great baseball all weekend long," Hill said. "The fans of Hawai‘i deserve that."
Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
