Hawai'i got strong all-around pitching to hold off Chicago State, 7-2, last night at Les Murakami Stadium.

Jayson Kramer pitched 4 1/3 scoreless innings of two-hit relief for starter Cameron Wheeler to help the Rainbows (11-6) win their second in a row before 1,076. Kramer (2-0) notched his second decision by way of a starter not making the required minimum of five innings to get credit for the win. He struck out seven while not allowing a walk.

"Jayson was good, he kept the ball down," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "He was aggressive tonight. The last couple times he's been out there, he's gotten underneath ball, he was flat and a little tentative. He was aggressive, he was down in the zone and he threw his curveball for strikes. He's as good as we've seen. That was an effective Jayson Kramer when he can keep the ball down in the zone like that."

It was Kramer's longest outing since going 5 2/3 innings of relief when UH lost to Georgia Southern, 13-11.

"I was just trying to get ahead, then try to get them out with my curveball tonight," said Kramer. "I would get ahead with the fastball, get strike one, then come in with the curve to try to get 'em out."

He struck out the side in the sixth on 12 pitches.

Wheeler, making his first start of the season after pitching just one inning of relief prior to that, allowed two runs, eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts in 4 2/3 innings. After getting the first two outs to start the fifth inning, he allowed two singles and a walk to load the bases and gave up an RBI single to Sean Murphy, who was 4 for 4 to lead all batters.

"Cameron had a good outing," Trapasso said. "He gave us what we needed. He took us almost five innings. He was up in the zone most of the night, but he's thrown one inning in the last five weeks, so I was really proud of him because he threw it in there, didn't walk guys, he forced contact. I'm happy for him."

Kris Sanchez led UH's 12-hit attack by batting 3 for 4 with three RBIs, while Brandon Haislet was 1 for 3 with two RBIs and three runs scored.

Murphy (0-1) was not bad on the mound for his first start of the season, allowing six runs (five earned), 10 hits and three walks with five strikeouts in six-plus innings for the Cougars (0-8).

"He was a little bit shaky, but I gotta believe he's earned a spot in the rotation," Chicago State coach Vern Hasty said.

Murphy left having thrown 106 pitches. Because of the Cougars' bullpen woes, as evident in Thursday's 20-1 loss, Hasty extended his starter as long as possible.

"Best-case scenario, he probably wouldn't have been out there the last couple innings." Hasty said. "As you saw (Thursday), we're a little bit light on relief pitching, so I stretched him out a little bit, he sucked it up and did a great job out there."

The series continues at 1:05 p.m. today with a doubleheader. The first game is scheduled for nine innings with the second one set for seven.

The Rainbows will start right-hander Joshua Schneider in the opener and left-hander Mark Rodrigues in the second. The Cougars will counter with right-hander Robert Vargas (0-2) in the first game and right-hander Mike Wieda (0-2) in the second.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.