Wins have been few and far between for the Hawai'i-Hilo baseball team, but yesterday it made a four-run fourth inning withstand numerous threats in a 4-3 victory against UH-Manoa.

The Vulcans (1-2) avoided the series sweep and snapped a 15-game skid to the Rainbows (2-1) dating to 2003 before 1,667 at Les Murakami Stadium.

"Feels awesome," said Vulcans senior second baseman Michael Higa, a graduate of Pearl City High. "A second dream come true."

His first dream that came true was a home run he hit Friday night. Higa was 7 for 10 in the series. One of his biggest hits yesterday was a hit-and-run single that ignited the four-run fourth.

"He's always been dependable," UHH coach Joey Estrella said of Higa. "Lot of spirit, lot of fight and he plays the game the way it's supposed to be. He plays it hard."

The Vulcans maintained their resolve despite a heart-breaking, 5-4 loss in 11 innings to open the series. The Vulcans, who have a number of players from O'ahu, had their share of supporters.

"It's good to get one for the guys, the fans who support us, our families," Higa said. "(And) for Jesse."

Higa was referring to teammate Jesse Yamashita, who passed away last weekend.

Freshman left-hander Kekoa Lee, a Moanalua High graduate, gave the Vulcans their third strong start of the series. The left-hander went 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs, five hits and four walks with two strikeouts.

Jesse Moon allowed a run in one inning, Jeffrey Germain went two-thirds of an inning and Dustin Gilmore finished off the Rainbows with two scoreless innings for the save.

"I think my curveball was working pretty good," Lee said. "I got two strikeouts with it."

Estrella said of Lee: "All fall he's been that kind of kid. We knew he was going to be someone good and I think he's going to be someone special."

Meanwhile, the Rainbows continued to struggle at the plate, being held to five hits. They had runners on in every inning, except two. Double plays ended three innings. They had only one multiple-run inning in the series.

"In reality, we're lucky to win 2 of 3 because we should've lost on Friday," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "But we didn't respect them. Our guys played with a mindset of assumption; they just assumed they were so good they were going to win. Yet, we go out again today and have a bad offensive performance. We had one good inning all weekend."

Freshman right-hander Alex Capaul went five innings for the Rainbows. Four runs and four of the six hits he allowed came in the fourth.

Trailing 1-0, the Vulcans sent eight batters to the plate in their big inning. T.J. Brown led off with a single and Higa's hit-and-run ground single to right put runners at the corners. A wild pitch scored Brown to tie the game at 1 and allowed Higa to take third. After A.J. Satele struck out, Peter Rodgers was hit by a pitch. Dayne Ogawa's ground-rule double to left made it 2-1.

It appeared Capaul would minimize the damage after he got Keoni Manago to bounce back to the mound as the runners held. Shane Kessell's two-run single capped the inning to make it 4-1.

"He really had one bad pitch," Trapasso said of Capaul. "They got the two-out hit."

Still, Capaul deserved a better fate.

"You give up one four spot in a game, you shouldn't lose," Trapasso said. "He didn't get the support he should've gotten."

The Rainbows took a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI single by Shane Hoey and pulled to 4-2 in the fifth when Sean Montplaisir tripled to right and scored when Kevin Fujii grounded out to second.

The Rainbows made it 4-3 in the seventh against Moon. Pinch hitter Derek DuPree led off with a walk and took second on Nate Young's sacrifice. Jon Hee and Hoey were hit by pitches to load the bases. Moon was then replaced by Germain, who was greeted by Brandon Haislet's sacrifice fly to left. Kevin Macdonald was also hit by a pitch to reload the bases, but Jeffrey Van Doornum lined out to short to end the inning.

"The reality is we have to make this game today be the best thing that ever happened to us and serve us in the long run," Trapasso said. "If you don't play lights out or like your hair's on fire, it doesn't matter who you play, you're going to lose. And it better tell you to respect the opponent you play every game."

Next up for the 'Bows is San Francisco in a four-game series starting Friday that features a doubleheader on Saturday. It will be a similar setup to the Western Athletic Conference season.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.