The562’s coverage of Dirtbags Baseball for the 2026 season is sponsored by P2S, Inc. Visit p2sinc.com to learn more.
Coming off a tough road swing, the Long Beach State Dirtbags (4-13, 0-4) were hoping some home cooking could help them end a six-game skid. Instead, the visiting Hawai’i Rainbow Warriors (10-7, 1-3) used some big rallies and a pair of crooked numbers to hand the Dirtbags a 11-1 loss on Friday night on Bohl Diamond at Blair Field.
Long Beach took the lead in the bottom of the first on a solo blast by Jake Evans, but that was about the extent of the good news for the Dirtbags.
The visiting Rainbow Warriors scored six runs in the second inning and five runs in the seventh to pull away for the win, handing LBSU its seventh loss in a row.
Dirtbags starter Jake Fields was erratic in his fourth start of the season, walking five of the eight batters he faced, and leaving the bases loaded with no outs when he was lifted for a reliever. All three runners would score in that second-inning rally as a two-run triple from Gabe Wright was the big blow for the ‘Bows. All told, Hawai’i would score six runs on four hits to take a 6-1 lead.
“We will have a new Friday starter starting next week, I do know that,” said Dirtbags head coach TJ Bruce. “We’re not gonna watch balls being thrown all the time. I think a lot of this comes down to mental toughness, to be honest with you. As I’ve told the pitchers, it’s a stationary position, just throw the ball down the middle and have them hit the ball out of the ballpark, but the walks, not being able to respond, letting big innings go, it’s a mental toughness thing that unfortunately we lack. And that’s super unfortunate being a team that I run.”
Senior Caleb Anderson did a great job in relief for the Dirtbags to cover the middle innings and put zeros up on the board. He had the longest outing of his entire collegiate career, covering 4.1 innings with a season-high 75 pitches. That mark was well above his previous high of 37 pitches against BYU on Feb. 25.
“Caleb did a nice job. I think he kind of found his groove,” said Bruce of Anderson, agreeing that he started to tire out in his fifth inning of work. “His pitch count hasn’t been that high since the end of the fall, but it was good. I mean, it gives us something to think about. Like I said, we’re gonna have a new weekend rotation starting next week, and we’ve got to change some things.”
Anderson had a season-high five strikeouts, using his breaking ball effectively to get four of his punchouts looking. He’d run out of gas in his fifth inning of work, allowing a single and two walks to spark another big inning for the ‘Bows in the seventh.
After reliever Ka’imi Kahalekai took over for Long Beach, he allowed an RBI single, then a three-run double by Tate Shimao to really break the game open. The visitors added five runs in that inning to extend their lead to 11-1, putting the game out of reach.
Trevor Goldenetz had a pair of hits out of the leadoff spot for the Dirtbags, continuing his productive freshman season at the plate. Evans jumped on the first pitch he saw in his first at-bat, driving a fastball well over the outfield wall in left.
There was a unique family moment in the bottom of the eighth inning, when Hawai’i relief pitcher Derek Valdez got to face his younger brother, Dirtbags freshman Damon Valdez, who came in to pinch-hit. The older brother won the battle, getting Damon to ground out to shortstop. Valdez recorded the final six outs of the night for UH to finish off the victory in UH’s first road game of the 2026 season.
The Rainbow Warriors had 10 hits and 10 walks, with each of their first eight batters in the lineup drawing at least one base on balls. Shimao did a big chunk of the damage out of the nine hole, recording a pair of doubles and four RBIs.
Starting pitcher Isaiah Magdaleno earned the win for Hawai’i, going six innings allowing five hits and a walk, while striking out nine Dirtbags along the way. He got stronger as the game went along, fanning the last four batters he faced.
The Dirtbags will look to bounce back in game two of the series, scheduled for 6:05 p.m. on Saturday. The series finale will be Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
