HONOLULU, Hawai'i --- UC Irvine baseball gutted out a win Friday night in Les Murakami Stadium hanging tough to hold off Hawai'i, 12-8.

• In nine innings and just over four hours, the 'Eaters found a way through to a victory in a game full of clutch hits, big-time pitches, and even a protest
• For the second straight night, the home team took the 1-0 lead as the Rainbow Warriors scored in the second inning. A groundout plated a run, but a second runner was left stranded on third base to halt more damage
• UC Irvine responded in a big way with four runs each in the third and fourth innings
  • In the third, Luke Spillane and Woody Hadeen got things started with a walk and bunt single. Caden Kendle's sacrifice fly would knot things at 1-1.
  • Two batters later, Thomas McCaffrey, who missed a home run by a couple feet in his first at-bat, did one better leaving the yard to deep left-center and give the lead to the Anteaters, 4-1
  • The fourth inning started with a hit by pitch, walk, and bunt single from Spillane and Hadeen with Jo Oyama getting into the act. That set up Caden Kendle and Anthony Martinez who each singled bringing in three runs between them and chase starter Randy Abshier in a 7-1 game
  • UCI tacked on a fourth run in the inning on a double play ball for their largest lead of the night at 8-1
• The Rainbow Warriors began their climb back into the game responding with two runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth. Anteater errors helped as one run came across on a passed ball in the fourth inning, and a wild throw to second base by reliever David Utagawa allowed two unearned runs in the fifth inning
• A clutch two-out single in the sixth inning by Chase Call brought in a pivotal ninth run as UCI scored their own with help from a passed ball to grow the lead back to 9-6
• It proved even more vital as the 'Bows chipped into the deficit again in the eighth inning after starting the inning with three bunts resulting in a single and one throwing error. Ricky Tibbett came on in relief allowing a run-scoring single to make it a one-run game, but revved up two strikeouts to end the inning with the lead intact.
• The ninth inning started with a walk and two outs as the 'Eaters searched for more runs to pad their lead and solve UH's Itsuki Takemoto working on his fourth inning on the mound
  • Caden Kendle's fourth hit of the game followed by a passed ball allowing the Warriors to intentionally walk Anthony Martinez set things up
  • Thomas McCaffrey battled from down in the count to work a walk and force in a 10th run for UCI
  • Will Bermudez came to the plate already having reached four times in the game and slapped a clutch, two-out double into the corner to double the lead to 12-8
• Tibbett closed things out with another 4+ out save to clinch a series victory, 12-8
• The Anteaters pieced things together with five pitchers starting with Trevor Hansen who battled into the fourth inning allowing two earned runs on five hits
  • Of Hawai'i's eight runs on the night, only three were earned around the two Anteater errors and two passed balls
  • Nick Rincover shutout Hawai'i over one inning to come away with his first career victory
  • Ryder Brooks was effective until grinding through the bunt-filled eighth inning. Prior to that, he shut down a Hawai'i rally and ended up with three strikeouts over two innings
• The bats pounded out 16 hits and reached 11 other times via walk or hit by pitch
  • Kendle led all players with his four hits and reached a total of six times driving in two runs as his on-base streak grew to 62 straight games
  • Thoma McCaffrey had a four-RBI night highlighted by his fifth home run of the season to take over the team lead
  • Will Bermudez reached five times with two doubles among his three hits and drove in two runs
• The protest of the game came in the eighth inning following a dispute put up by head coach Ben Orloff over Takemoto's pitching delivery. The protest was ultimately asked for by Hawai'i head coach Rich Hill in a discussion that lasted nearly 15 minutes with runners on base and two out in the inning.
• Other notables from the game were injuries suffered by Anteater players
  • Woody Hadeen finished reached base three times and scored twice, but was hit by a pitch in the middle of the back in the fifth inning and had to leave the game
  • His replacement, Auggie Gutierrez, also left the game late after injuring himself running down the line in his one at-bat of the night.
  • Will Bermudez finished the game at shortstop, his first action at the position in an Anteater uniform. James Castagnola came in to play third base and scored after a walk in his lone plate appearance in the ninth inning

The Anteaters did find a way to get a win and secure the series victory Friday night as they try for a road sweep Saturday, March 29. First pitch is 4:05 p.m., 1:05 p.m. Hawai'i time with freshman left-hander Brandon Luu on the mound for UCI and the Rainbow Warriors yet to announce their starter.

Postgame Thoughts with Will Bermudez
"We've learned through tough series, it's a nine-inning game. Anything can happen. And yes I might have had the big hit, but the play before that Thomas with a 1-2 count, fights off a couple pitches, gets the huge walk, and that puts them on their toes and they have to make a pitching change. It's great for Thomas, and I'm happy that everyone contributed and it took everybody."

"We've all got each other's back. We all have different plans and if I'm playing second or Jo is or Auggie's playing second, we all work on things in practice for things like that. And yeah, I haven't played shortstop in a while, but it's just cool that everyone has each other's back and it ended up working out."