'Bows walk-off Fullerton to claim series

The University of Hawai‘i rallied late and walked off longtime Big West rival Cal State Fullerton, 6-5, in 10 innings on Sunday to secure the series victory. Trailing 4-2 in the bottom of the eighth, the Rainbow Warriors mounted a three-run rally sparked by freshman Mana Lau Kong. The ‘Iolani graduate delivered an RBI double to ignite the surge, helping Hawai‘i take a 5-4 lead into the ninth inning. Cal State Fullerton answered in the top of the ninth to force extra innings, but Hawai‘i responded in the 10th. Noah Rodriguez led off with a single, setting the table for Gabe Wright, who delivered a walk-off RBI single to right-center field to score Rodriguez and seal the win. “Same as every other moment — go in there and try to hit the ball hard,” Wright said. “They were throwing me a lot of sliders all day, so I had an idea of what I was going to get and took a good swing.” Wright emphasized the team effort behind the victory. “It means a lot. We’ve been through a lot of adversity this year,” he said. “That was my moment, but a lot of other guys had big moments. That doesn’t happen if Noah Rodriguez doesn’t get on to start the inning. We’ve just got to keep it rolling.” Rodriguez said he felt the support of his teammates throughout his at-bat in the 10th. “The team was behind me the whole way,” Rodriguez said. “That kind of relieves any pressure. At that point, it’s just trusting the process and what I do.” Rodriguez added that the win could serve as a potential turning point. “We know what we have,” he said. “I think we can definitely use this in the right way and keep moving forward. This could be a turning point.” With the win, Hawai‘i improved to 5-7 in Big West play and moved to within one game of fourth place with 18 conference games remaining. Hawaii News, Hawaii Weather, Hawaii Sports See more of the team that is Working for Hawaii on our website: https://www.khon2.com Stay informed about Hawaii news, weather, sports and entertainment, subscribe to the KHON2 YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/KHONNewsHawaii?sub_confirmation=1 Check out our morning news podcast: https://khon2.com/khon-2go Sign up to receive the latest Hawaii news in your inbox: https://nxslink.khon2.com/join/6sd/signup Stay informed about Hawaii news, weather, sports, and entertainment! Follow KHON2 on our social channels: https://www.youtube.com/user/KHONNewsHawaii/ https://www.facebook.com/khon2news https://twitter.com/KHONnews https://www.instagram.com/khonnews/