Coach Mike Trapasso was ejected in the bottom of the seventh inning when Schafer Magana was hit on a 1-2 count. But home plate umpire Jim LeBeau called Magana back for apparently leaning into the pitch. Trapasso came out to vehemently argue the call and was ejected.

"Sometimes you have do things to get things going," said Trapasso, whose Rainbows (3-2) snapped a four-game win streak by the Tigers (5-3).

The ejection was apparently enough to wake up the Rainbows. They had been frustrated through six innings by Jason Haar, who had handcuffed them to that point for one run on five hits. Before the seventh, UH had not had consecutive batters reach safely.

Magana eventually walked and Esteban Lopez followed with an RBI double to left to pull UH to 3-2. Left-hander Brett Manning came in for Haar to face the left-handed hitting Robbie Wilder. But UH countered with the right-handed hitting Jose Castaneda, who grounded out to third, holding Lopez at second.

Joe Spiers' line single to right stayed in the air too long, allowing Lopez to only reach third. Greg Kish walked to load the bases and the left-handed hitting Isaac Omura's two-run ground single to center put UH ahead 4-3. Right-hander Brad Schultz came in for Manning (0-1) to get the last two outs.

For good measure, the Rainbows added five runs in the eighth to help preserve the win for reliever Steven Wright (1-0), who allowed a hit with four strikeouts in 2¡ scoreless innings. Starter Ricky Bauer turned in another strong outing, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 6á innings.

"If we compete like we did in the seventh and eighth innings, we can be a pretty good offensive ball club," Trapasso said. "It's not like we were not competing. Their pitcher was making some good pitches. But we didn't have that fire and sometimes, you gotta get something going. It was a great effort on our guys to come back like that."

An apparent sign the Rainbows might have needed some motivation was in the UH sixth, when Kish walked to lead off with no apparent sign of enthusiasm from the home dugout. It was only the second time through that juncture that UH got the batter leading off the inning on base; the other time was in the third, when UH scored its first run.

"Everyone's into the game," Kish explained. "Sometimes we're not vocal, other times we are. We don't think we need to be cheerleaders all the time. Guys are into the game, but it just so happens tonight, we needed to be a little more intense getting over the hump, get those extra few runs and get us back into the game."

Lopez, who was 1 for 11 in the Alabama series, broke out with a 3-for-3 performance with an intentional walk. Spiers batted 3 for 5 with two RBIs and a steal.

Wright turned in another strong outing with something to show for this time. He got a no-decision in Saturday's 9-5 loss to Alabama in which he was charged with one run in 3¡ innings. Wright inherited first and third with two outs for Bauer in the seventh inning. He got Bob Saunders on a force to end the inning. He then struck out the next four batters he faced before allowing a double with one out in the ninth. But he got the next two batters to end the game.

"He was aggressive," Lopez said. "He was throwing his fastball for strikes and getting ahead."

The series continues at 6:35 tonight with UH sending right-hander Stephen Bryant (0-0) against right-hander Tyler McCready (1-0), an Iolani School graduate.