With everything working for him, preseason All-America Daniel Bibona gave up close to nothing to help No. 9 UC Irvine beat Hawai'i, 5-1, last night in the collegiate baseball season opener for both teams.

The junior left-handed Bibona (1-0) had no-hit the Rainbows through seven innings before designated hitter Jeffrey Van Doornum spoiled the no-no with a flare single to right-center to start the eighth inning.

Bibona ended up giving up a run, one hit and a walk — all in the eighth — in 7 2/3 innings to snap UH's four-game win streak in season openers before 2,528 at Les Murakami Stadium. The Rainbows lost in 2004, 7-4, to Texas, which also was nationally ranked.

"It was one of those nights where I could throw any pitch for a strike," said Bibona, who had eight strikeouts. "Those nights don't come too often and these are nights you hope for."

Just how did his pitches look to the Rainbows?

"He threw all three pitches for strikes," Van Doornum said. "He threw whatever pitch he wanted on any count. He had good command of his fastball, inside and outside. He threw his curveball whenever he wanted to. His change up was pretty deceptive."

Bibona admitted he was aware had had a no-hitter from the fourth inning.

"It was really weird," Bibona said. "In the fourth inning, I looked up and saw I didn't give up a hit. People start yelling from the stands, 'Don't mess up, don't mess up.' Once I gave up the hit, I was pretty upset with myself. I thought I lost the game, but I flushed it, tried to go after the next hitter."

As for Van Doornum: "It was a pitch a little bit up, so I kind of stayed back and adjusted my hands a little bit. I'll take it. It wasn't my best hit of my life."

Bibona got Kevin Macdonald to ground into double play to erase Van Doornum, but walked Chase Koissian on four pitches and was lifted for Matt DuFour, who blew the shutout bid when he gave up an RBI double to right by Landon Hernandez that made it 5-1.

"He's a preseason All-American for all the right reasons," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "He shut us down tonight."

Bibona's performance overshadowed senior right-hander Jayson Kramer's debut as a starting pitcher as a Rainbow. Kramer (0-1) allowed four runs, seven hits and two walks, while tying a career-high with seven strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.

"I was real happy with him," Trapasso said. "He gave us seven innings. He threw all of his pitches for strikes and threw better as he went."

Kramer said the coaches prepared him well for the start.

"I knew the arm strength was there," he said. "I knew my legs were going to be there."

His longest outing of his career was 7 1/3 innings in the 2007 Western Athletic Conference tournament against Nevada in a 14-inning loss to the Wolf Pack.

"I had a lot of fun out there," Kramer said. "I wasn't too nervous. They are a good ball club. Pitching against an All-American was 'woo woo.' It was something. I learned something from what he did to us, so I'm feeling confident with a decent start for my start."

The Anteaters took a 2-0 lead in the third and made it 4-0 in the sixth on RBI singles by Dillon Bell and Francis Larson.