Pinch hitter Draven Nushida delivered a titanic walk-off single in the Hawaii baseball team’s astonishing 9-8 victory over Marshall at Les Murakami Stadium.
A crowd of 2,588 saw the Rainbow Warriors overcome deficits of 5-0, 7-3 and, entering the bottom of the ninth, 8-6 to win their first season opener in Rich Hill’s four years as head coach.
Nushida, a transfer from Cal State Fullerton, pulled a drive over right fielder Jackson Halter’s reach to bring home Xaige Lancaster from third with the winning run.
“I was ready from the start,” Nushida said. “It was a fastball up and in. I was on time for it, just thinking, ‘hit it,’ and I hit it. … I was excited (when it went over Halter). I was running around. It was the coolest thing I’ve ever done.”
The Thundering Herd appeared to be cruising behind side-armed reliever Nicholas Weyrich, who pitched 21⁄3 hitless innings through the eighth. But at the start of the UH ninth, Marshall coach summoned Tim Baird, a hard-throwing right-hander with a fastball that touches 93 mph.
But left fielder Ben Zeigler-Namoa opened the UH ninth with a double to right field. Zeigler-Namoa then advanced to third on Elijah Ickes’ single to right, his fourth hit of the game. Lancaster hit a high chopper up the middle that scored Zeigler-Namoa and advanced Ickes to third.
Designated hitter Itsuki Takemoto struck out swinging on an 0-2 pitch, but the ball eluded catcher Nolan Wilson, allowing Ickes to tie it at 8 and Lancaster to advance to second.
Lancaster advanced to third on Jared Quandt’s groundout to Baird. With Lancaster faking to break home, it appeared Baird hiccuped his motion, resulting in a balk. Despite Hill’s protest from the third-base coach’s box, the balk-off call was not made.
“I thought it was a balk,” Hill said. “The umpire saw it differently.”
Aidan Kuni then was hit by a pitch. Hill ordered Kuni to stay put at first, even if a pitch was in the dirt, to keep first baseman AJ Havrilla near the bag and maintain a gap between first and second.
After a mound visit, Baird was kept in the game. Hill then beckoned the left-swinging Nushida to pinch-hit for catcher Konnor Palmeira. Hill said Nushida asked hitting coach Dave Nakama for the green light to swing at the first pitch. Nakama consented. Nushida then pulled Baird’s fastball for the game-winner.
“I knew he torched it,” Lancaster said of Nushida’s drive. “(Halter) was not catching that. I was doing my little trot (home) ready to rush that dude, give him his high-fives, give him his praise. Bless that dude. I give all my praise to Drav.”
Hill said Nakama and Nushida “were the heroes. He said, ‘Do you mind if I swing first pitch?’ ‘Heck, no, go for it.’ And the rest is history.
Marshall designated hitter Ethan Murdoch hammered two home runs to left to power the Herd to a 5-0 lead. The cross winds usually knock down drives to left at the ’Bows’ on-campus stadium. But on a still night, Murdoch hit his first home run as the second half of back-to-back solo shots that propelled the Herd to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. In the third, Tyler Kamerer reached on an error. Then Murdoch belted his second home run as part of a three-run inning that increased the Herd’s lead to 5-0.
Freddy Rodriguez, who did not allow a hit in 21⁄3 innings, kept the Herd from further expanding their lead. “My team had my back,” said Rodriguez, a transfer from Cal Poly. “I went out there and did what I had to do to keep us in it.”
The ’Bows got on the scoreboard on Takemoto’s run-scoring single and Kuni’s RBI double in the fourth inning. In the fifth, Zeigler-Namoa walked, sprinted to third on Ickes’ double, and came home on Lancaster’s sacrifice fly.
The ’Bows scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth to close to 7-6.
