The heart of the order pumped life into Hawai'i's 7-3 win against Northern Illinois yesterday in the Coca-Cola Classic at Billy Parker Field in Surprise, Ariz.

No. 5 hitter Jeff Van Doornum and cleanup hitter Vinnie Catricala combined to drive in five runs for the Rainbows (5-3), who snapped a two-game losing streak.

It was a long day for the Huskies (0-2), who earlier lost, 9-6, to Portland in 16 innings. It was NIU's first games of the season after the school suspended athletic events for 10 days following the Feb. 14 shooting at its campus. The Huskies canceled a series last weekend at Texas Tech and were a last-minute invite to the Classic. They only stayed for the two games, as they will play a series at Southern Illinois starting tomorrow.

Van Doornum batted 2 for 3 with a double and two-run home run with three RBIs, Catricala went 3 for 3 with a triple and two RBIs and No. 3 hitter Brandon Haislet went 3 for 4 to lead UH's 12-hit assault.

"You could see Vinnie start to see the ball better from Sunday's game," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "We know Vinnie, he's going to hit. Hitting goes in streaks; sometimes guys are seeing the ball and sometimes they're not. Van Doornum just can hit."

Catricala entered the game batting .261, while Van Doornum entered with a team-leading six doubles.

Although starter Matt Daly (2-0) was able to pitch a season-high 6á innings, allowing three runs and three hits with six strikeouts, he also walked six and surpassed the 100-pitch mark. Daly got into trouble in the seventh, when the Huskies pulled to within one and was bailed out by Jayson Kramer, who gave up two hits and a walk, while striking out one in 2¡ scoreless innings of relief to notch his second save.

The walks allowed by Daly concern Trapasso, since JC transfer Alex Bates, a projected starter, is still not healthy.

"That's the whole seventh inning right there," Trapasso said. "(Daly) gets in a jam and makes the game interesting because he's reaching back for something that's not there because the tank's empty because he's walked six guys in the first three innings. It's going to catch up to him. He's going to have to stop that, otherwise he's going to find himself back in the bullpen. We can't even think about doing that until Bates gets back healthy."

Left-hander Matt Jernstad (0-1) was tagged for four runs, seven hits and five walks with five strikeouts in 5á innings.

The Rainbows surged to a 4-0 lead after six innings, before the Huskies closed to 4-3 in the top of the seventh.

Hawai'i recovered those runs with three of its own in the bottom of the seventh. Haislet led off with a bunt single to first and scored on Catricala's triple to right-center. Jernstad was pulled for Tom Zelasko, who was greeted by Van Doornum's blast to center that put UH ahead 7-3.

Hawai'i plays top-ranked Arizona State (4-0) today in a 1 p.m. HST scheduled game. The Sun Devils crushed No. 8 Michigan, 15-4, last night in Tempe, Ariz.