Landon Hernandez drove in three runs and redshirt freshman Sam Spangler pitched 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to help Hawai'i beat Sacramento State, 8-3, tonight to take the opener of the four-game Western Athletic Conference series at Les Murakami Stadium.

Hawai'i starter Jared Alexander (7-3) suffered an apparent injury in the top of the sixth when he after David Flores fouled off a pitch after two Hornets had singled. After the pitch, he signaled to the dugout and was replaced by Cory Kahn. Alexander went five-plus innings, was charged with two runs and six hits, while striking out five for the Rainbows (22-24 overall, 14-11 WAC). Sam Spangler went 3 2/3 innings for his first save.

Jose Ramirez (4-5) went 5 2/3 innings, allowing five runs, nine hits and three walks with three strikeouts for the Hornets (19-25, 10-10)

Hawai'i broke the scoreless duel in the fourth. With one out, Vinnie Catriala singled to left and took third on Greg Garcia's chop double over first base. Both scored on Landon Hernandez's ground-rule double to right-center to give UH a 2-0 lead.

Alter base running allowed the Rainbows to increase their lead in the fifth. Jon Hee led off with a single to center. Brandon Haislet fouled out to deep right. Right fielder Ryan Blair ran a long way to make the catch, running into the fence. Hee, knowing it would be difficult for Blair to make the throw back in, tagged up, but didn't stop at second and went tumbling into third. it was a crucial move because after Jeff Van Doornum walked, Hee scored on Kevin Macdonald's sacrifice fly to center. Van Doornum then scored from first on Catricala's long single to right to make it 4-0.

The Hornets pulled to within one in the top of the sixth. Taylor Watanabe led off with a single to center and took second on Ryan Blair's ground single to left. Alexander's first pitch to David Flores was fouled and then the pitcher signaled to the dugout that something was apparently wrong. Cory Kahn came in for Alexander and had all the time needed to warm because it was an injury replacement. After Flores flied out to left, Gabe Jacobo swung and missed on a 2-2 count, but a balk nullified the strikeout and advanced the runners to second and third. It was costly, as Jacobo followed with a ground single to left to score Watanabe and move Blair to third. Wes Oberlin reached on a single to short that scored Blair to pull the Hornets to 4-2 and moved Jacobo to second. Left-hander Sam Spanger came in for Kahn to face the left-handed hitting Tim Wheeler, who flied out to left. But Jeff Hannah doubled to right-center to make it 4-3.

The Rainbows got one of the runs back in the bottom of the sixth. With two outs, Shane Hoey walked and took third on Hee's flare double to right. Ramirez was pulled for Trevor Paine. Haislet beat out a single to short to scored Hoey and sent Hee to third, increasing UH's lead to 5-3.

The Hornets opened the bottom of the seventh Chris Baek and UH tacked on three to pad its lead.. Catricala led off with a walk, took second on a wild pitch and went to third on a balk before Garcia walked. Hernandez's sacrifice fly to right scored Catricala to make it 6-3. Baek was pulled for Alvaro Orozco. Garcia stole second and Orozco walked Roquemore and pinch hitter Alex Myers to load the bases. Hee's sacrifice fly to right made it 7-3, as Roquemore took third. Haislet's single to left scored Roquemore and moved Myers to second and increased UH's lead to 8-3.