HONOLULU — Hawai’i’s Justin Cayetano and Clary Carlsen combined for a four-hit shutout as the Rainbows defeated the Sacramento State baseball team, 2-0, Saturday evening in Les Murakami Stadium. The Hornets fell to 5-3 on the season while the Rainbows raised their record to 5-1. The game marked the first time that Sacramento State had been shut out and suffered consecutive losses this season.Hawai’i scored their first run of the contest in the second inning when Brian Bock knocked in Jaziel Mendoza with an RBI single. With two outs in the inning, Mendoza singled to right field and then stole second to put himself in scoring position. Bock grounded a ball up the middle to score Mendoza from second.
The Rainbows would score again in the eighth when Joshua Green drove in Brent Cook with an RBI double. Hawai’i took advantage again with two outs in an inning as Cook walked and stole second. Green then doubled to center field to give the Rainbows some breathing room.
Cayetano (1-0) earned the win for Hawai’i after allowing only three hits with three walks and six strikeouts in eight innings of work. Carlsen earned the save by allowing only one hit and striking out two batters in the ninth. Besides the first inning, Cayetano did not allow a Hornet runner to reach second base in the contest.
Junior Chris Kinsey (1-1) was tagged with the loss despite allowing only two runs on seven hits with one walk and four strikeouts in seven and two-thirds innings. Juniors Mikela Olsen, Jesse Schmidt, Kinsey and sophomore Everet Rincon were the only Hornets to record a hit in the contest.
Sacramento State and Hawai’i will compete in the final game series on Sunday, Feb. 16, at 3:05 p.m. PST.
