Louisiana Tech cashed in a ninth-inning lead-off walk by eventually scoring it on an infield single to beat Hawai'i, 8-7, to complete a four-game Western Athletic Conference series sweep before 1,725 at Les Murakami Stadium.

Patrick Thomas led off with a walk, took second on Nick Grunenwald's sacrifice, went to third when Kevin Winn grounded out to second and scored when Justin Gordey beat out a single to second to put the Bulldogs ahead.

Mike Jefferson (2-2) pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for the Bulldogs (26-18 overall, 11-9 WAC), who have won six in a row.

Josh Slaats (2-2) allowed a run in 3 2/3 innings for the Rainbows (26-20, 9-10), who have lost five in a row.

The Rainbows threatened in the bottom of the ninth. Kolten Wong led off with a walk and took second when Landon Hernandez reached safely on the sacrifice and error when first baseman Alex Williams bobbled the ball. After a 1-0 count on Sean Montplaisir, Kyle Roliard replaced Jefferson on the mound for the Bulldogs. Both advanced on Sean Montplaisir's sacrifice. The right-handed hitting Shane Hoey came in to pinch hit for left-handed hitting Christian Johnson, so Tech replaced the left-handed Roliard for the right-handed Graham Meyers, who struck out Hoey for the second out. After a 1-0 count, Matt Roquemore fouled off seven consecutive pitches and Meyers, after a visit from the trainer, was pulled for left-hander Jamelle Clements. After fouling off the first pitch, Clements struck out Roquemore for his first save.

The Bulldogs took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Kevin Winn's two-out, solo home run to right.

The Rainbows quickly tied in the bottom of the first when Ryan Morford led off with a homer to left. An out later, Vinnie Catricala singled to center before Kevin Macdonald popped out to third. Wong doubled to left-center to score Catricala to put the Rainbows ahead, 2-1.

Hawai'i increased its lead with a two-run second. Montplaisir doubled to right to start the inning. Johnson followed with a two-run homer to right to make it 4-1. That ended starter Casey Jones' day, as he was replaced by Mike LeBreton, who struck out Roquemore. Greg Garcia fouled out to left to end the inning.

Louisiana Tech returned with two runs in the top of the third. Pinch hitter Roliard led off with a single to left and went to second on a wild pitch before Matt Combs was called out on strikes. Patrick Thomas grounded a double down the right-field line to score Roliard to pull Tech to 4-2. Thomas went to third on Nick Grunenwald's single to right. Grunennwald stole second, as Thomas held third. Winn reached first on a fielder's choice grounder to first baseman Macdonald, who chased Thomas back to third for the second out, as Grunenwald went from second to third. Dageford's single to left scored Grunenwald and moved Winn to second and made it 4-3.

Hawai'i had its third two-run inning in a row. Catricala led off with a single to left, but Macdonald struck out. Wong was hit by a pitch to put runners at first and second. Landon Hernandez's bloop single to left-center loaded the bases. Montplasir's sacrifice fly to center advanced all the runners and increased UH's lead to 5-3. A balk advanced the runners, making it 6-3 before Johnson struck out to end the inning.

A four-run sixth put the Bulldogs ahead. Dageford led off with a flare double to right and scored on Kersten's single to center. Kersten went to second on throw home that missed the cutoff. Williams grounded out to short, holding Kersten at second. Kersten went to third on Threlkeld's single to left, chasing Alexander for Connor Little. Roliard's soft line single to left scored Kersten and sent Threlkeld to second and pulled Tech to 6-5. Combs walked to load the bases to set up Thomas' two-run single to center that moved Combs to second and put Tech ahead, 7-6. Little was replaced by Josh Slaats, who got Gruenenwald to ground to second for an inning-ending double play.

The Rainbows tied it in the bottom of the sixth. Johnson walked to lead-off the sixth and took second on Roquemore's sacrifice. Morford singled to left to move Johnson to third and went to second on the throw home. Garcia's sacrifice fly to center also moved Morford to third and tie the game at 7. LeBreton was replaced by Cody Watts. who walked Catricala to put runners at the corners. After falling behind 1-0 on Macdonald, Mike Jefferson replaced Watts. Macdonald popped up to short to end the inning.

The Bulldogs threatened in the seventh. Winn led off on a four-pitch walk, but Dageford struck out and ejected after arguing the call. Slaats also struck out Kersten and Williams to end the inning.

Hawai'i also threatened in the bottom of the eighth. Johnson led off with a four-pitch walk and took second on Roquemore's sacrifice. Morford was intentionally walked, but Garcia popped out to the pitcher on a bunt. Catricala singled to left to load the bases, but Macdonald flied out to deep center to end the inning.