‘Bows even series with 3-2 win over LMU

LIHU‘E — The ‘Bows rebounded from a loss in Thursday’s series opener with a 3-2 win over Loyola Marymount, Friday in Los Angeles.

Connor Little (1-0) got the win, going 7.1 innings, giving up two runs on six hits, walking one and striking out three.

Lenny Linsky went the final 1.2 innings for the save, his second of the season, giving up just one hit and striking out two.

Left fielder Sean Montplaisir went 3 for 4 with a run and an RBI, while designated hitter Michael Blake was 2 for 4.

Hawai‘i got on the board first, plating a run in the opening frame after Zack Swasey laced a one-out single, then stole second base. Montplaisir brought him home with a double to left field for the 1-0 lead.

LMU evened things up in the bottom half of the second, after Little retired the first two hitters. Back-to-back doubles tied the score at 1-1, which went unchanged until the ‘Bows struck again in the top of the fifth.

Catcher David Peterson led off with a double, then took third on a Blake single. With runners at the corners and no outs, AJ Bayus came through with a single to left, brining home Peterson for the 2-1 lead. Though they had two on and no out, the ‘Bows were unable to add to the margin in the fifth.

Montplaisir singled to lead off the sixth, then scored on a Van Doornum double down the left field line to put UH up 3-1.

Linsky came into the game with one out in the eighth and runners on first and second, giving up a single to plate one run, which was charged to Little. He worked his way out of any further damage, then pitched a perfect ninth to preserve the 3-2 win.

Hawai‘i improves to 4-5 on the season, while LMU falls to 8-3.

The teams will play the third game of their four-game series today, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. PT (11 a.m. HT). The series finale will be at the same time Sunday, with a single game to follow in Los Angeles against Long Beach State, Monday at 6:30 p.m. PT (4:30 p.m. HT).

The ‘Bows then return home for almost six full weeks, playing only home games from March 10 through April 23. They will begin with a four-game series against Portland, opening Thursday at Les Murakami Stadium (6:35 p.m.).

Bank of Hawai‘i softball openers postponed

LIHU‘E — Friday’s opening games in the Bank of Hawai‘i Invitational softball tournament were postponed due to rain.

The scheduled games have been moved to Sunday, states a release from the UH athletic department. Weather permitting, the tournament will begin today with the originally posted lineup starting at 11 a.m. at Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

Today’s games open with South Dakota State-St. Bonaventure at 11 a.m., followed by Weber State-St. Bonaventure at 1 p.m., Hawai‘i-South Dakota State at 3 p.m. and Hawai‘i-Weber State at 5 p.m.

Sunday’s games will be Weber State-South Dakota State at 10 a.m. and Hawai‘i-St. Bonaventure at noon.

The third and fourth seedswill then play at 2 p.m., with the top two seeds playing at 4 p.m.

Men’s volleyball pulls off sweep of Pepperdine

LIHU‘E —It was a solid effort for UH, which came away with a 3-0 sweep of Pepperdine, Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

Set scores were 25-19, 25-20, 25-20.

Jonas Umlauft and Joshua Walker each led UH with 15 kills. Nejc Zemljak had 35 assists and six digs, both team highs.

The teams complete their two-match tilt at 7 p.m. tonight at the Stan Sheriff Center. It will be shown live on KFVE.

Men’s hoops finishes regular season today

LIHU‘E — The ‘Bows will conclude their regular season today against Fresno State (13-16, 5-10 Western Athletic Conference), tipping at 8 p.m. PT (6 p.m. HT) in Fresno, Calif.

Currently tied for fourth place in the conference, Hawai‘i (18-10, 8-7 WAC) has a chance to finish tied for second place in the standings. However, tiebreaker scenarios make it impossible for UH to be seeded any higher than fifth in next week’s WAC Tournament, Wednesday through Saturday in Las Vegas.

Today’s game can be heard on ESPN 1420 AM.