Historic as far as the University of Hawai‘i baseball program is concerned and superlative by national standards, the weekly awards for pitcher Isaiah Magdaleno continue to pile up in the days following his historic start on Friday.
In front of a sold-out crowd at Les Murakami Stadium, Magdaleno twirled one of the greatest games in program history in a 1-0 win over UC Riverside. The junior entered the seventh inning with a perfect game and entered the ninth with a no-hitter. Despite losing both, his final statline was still spectacular — a complete game with 16 strikeouts, allowing just one walk and one hit in 107 pitches.
"There's really no better feeling," Magdaleno said on Friday night. "Honestly, I feel like this is the hard work that we put in. We come here to perform, and I'm glad that I was able to do that. We still got a long way to go for this season, we're making that playoff push."
Magdaleno's perfect game was broken up with a walk on a full count that narrowly missed the strike zone with one out in the seventh inning. His no-hitter was lost on an infield single, a chopper to third by David Whittle.
Still, Magdaleno's performance was dominant and historic by all accounts. UC Riverside sent 11 different batters to the plate, and Magdaleno struck each one out at least once. It was the first complete game of Magdaleno's career and first UH shutout since Randy Abshier tossed one in 2023.
UC Riverside runners were on first and third when Magdaleno got the final out he needed — a strikeout on his changeup, considered by scouts to be his best pitch. Magdaleno's performance set the tone for the Rainbow Warriors, who went on to sweep the Highlanders. At 24-19 overall and 13-11 in Big West play, the 'Bows are currently in position to make the conference tournament and are tied for fourth in the conference standings.
Magdaleno says all his pitches were working for him during his pregame routine. Despite the rarity of what he almost accomplished, he didn't let him faze him as he finished his start.
"Just not making a big deal out of it and just getting to the next page, getting the next guy out more so than anything, not really looking back on what could have happened if the call was to go the other way," Magdaleno said of his mentality on Friday. "But yeah, just more so getting right back on the horse."
"Obviously you want (the perfect game and no-hitter) bad for him, but it was awesome to just watch him get back on the horse and execute pitches and get two more outs for us," Hawai‘i associate head coach and pitching coach Keith Zuniga said. "So many times when that happens and the emotions of that all, it can kind of get you off your game. He kind of pulled his hat down even tighter and became tougher, in my opinion. That was awesome to see."
The celebrations and accolades for Magdaleno came pouring in almost immediately after his start. His teammates mobbed him and rightfully made him the center of attention during their postgame celebration on Friday. Before Saturday's game, Magdaleno posed for photos with UH legends Gerald Ako and Derek Tatsuno, the only other 'Bows to strike out 16 in a game. Ako struck out 19 in a game in 1979, while Tatsuno, considered perhaps the greatest college pitcher of all time, had 20 that same year.
"I told Mags, 'You better get an 8x11 of that thing, have both those guys sign it and stick that in your wall for the rest of your life," head coach Rich Hill said. "I'm going to."
Magdaleno was named the Big West Conference Pitcher of the Week on Monday. By Tuesday afternoon, he was named national Pitcher of the Week by the College Baseball Foundation, the NCBWA, and Perfect Game USA. He was also named the overall Player of the Week by the Golden Spikes Award and D1Baseball. For good measure, Baseball America named him to its national Team of the Week.
"I'm very grateful," Magdaleno said on Tuesday. "All the congratulations have been super great. I'm very grateful for the moment, taking it all in, and just very appreciative."
With two Big West series remaining, Magdaleno has two regular season starts ahead of him as a Rainbow Warrior. As a junior, Magdaleno is likely to get selected in July's MLB Draft and could turn pro if that were the case. His college days could be numbered, but what's more important to him is that they're not over just yet.
"Isaiah is the best. We don't even want to get to that that far ahead. We're enjoying every single day that we have with him," Zuniga said. "I enjoy being around him every day. I hope the fans enjoy watching him, because he is different. He is all about this place. He represents it proudly: Hawai‘i across his chest and his family's name across his back. They should be proud, and the entire state should be proud, because all he's done is represent us well."
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Christian Shimabuku can be reached at christian@alohastatedaily.com.
