San Jose State coach Sam Piraro went on his gut feeling, but it was Hawai'i that suffered the gut-wrenching, 2-1, Western Athletic Conference baseball loss last night.

For the second game in a row, the Spartans (18-11 overall, 3-2 WAC) beat the Rainbows (21-11, 2-3) at their game with strong pitching to pull into a first-place tie with Fresno State, also 3-2 in the conference. A Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 2,286 watched UH lose a conference series for the first time since April 7 to 9 at Fresno State, which took 2 of 3.

Friday night, Scott Sobzcak, a relief pitcher making his first start, pitched a 9-1 complete-game victory. Last night, two Spartans relievers combined for eight scoreless innings to rally by the Rainbows, who took a 1-0 lead in the first off starter Spencer Snodgrass.

The Rainbows could have done more damage in the first, when Brandon Haislet's single to center scored Justin Frash, who doubled with two outs. But a diving catch by left fielder Chris Balatico robbed Kris Sanchez of a possible extra-base hit and an RBI for sure.

"I had a good read on it," said Balatico, a 2003 Mililani alum. "It was slicing hard."

In the UH second, Snodgrass walked Evan Zimny to start the inning. Piraro then pulled Snodgrass for Brandon Hennessey (2-0), who followed with five scoreless innings of two-hit ball, walking three and striking out five. After Zimny was stranded on third in the second, no other UH player reached third base the rest of the game.

"I didn't like the matchup," Piraro said of lifting Snodgrass early. "That was a risky move, but sometimes I get that gut feeling that the matchup's not what we want. I wasn't sure Spencer came in with his ace stuff and Hawai'i's a good hitting team. My biggest fear was we get behind three or four runs early against (UH starter Mark) Rodrigues. I felt there was the possibility that could happen. I made a move that I felt was a gut move."

That made Balatico's catch very crucial.

"Defensively, we played extremely well," Piraro said. "Balatico's catch was a tremendous play, wasn't a routine play."

Hennessey, who entered the game with a 5.68 earned run average, said when he struggled earlier in the season, his pitches were high. But last night, he was able to keep his pitches down. He knew he had to bring his best stuff because UH's pitching staff also is tough.

"We have great respect for their pitching," he said. "We went in here knowing it was going to be a battle. They have a ton of great pitching. They're going to come out tomorrow ready to go."

The Spartans took the lead in the sixth against Rodrigues. Karson Klauer led off with a single and one out later Donato Giovanatto was hit by a pitch. After Marcus McKimmy fouled out to the catcher, Sonny Garza lined a single to left that scored Klauer and sent Giovanatto to third. Rodrigues was lifted for Matt Daly. On an 0-1 count, Garza broke for second. Catcher Landon Hernandez threw through to second baseman Jon Hee, whose return throw to home was wide, allowing Giovanatto to complete the double steal and give SJSU a 2-1 lead. A good throw probably would have nailed the runner.

"It's a tough one," Rodrigues said of the one-run game. "Two-one. It's a good game. We just have to come out tomorrow and be Sunday tough."

The Rainbows could not generate any kind of offense. Only three times they managed to have more than two runners on base. Lead-off batter Hee and No. 2-hole hitter Derek DuPree are a combined 2 for 16 in the first two games of the series.

"We're just not hitting," UH coach Mike Trapasso said.

Daly had his best outing, pitching 3 1/3 perfect innings of relief. But Loren Moneypenny, who had been a starting pitcher prior to this series, pitched three scoreless innings of two-hit ball, striking out three to preserve the lead for his first save. He used 53 pitches and won't be available for today's series finale.

While the Rainbows look for "Sunday tough" to avoid a sweep, the Spartans are thinking the same. Last year, the Spartans won the series opener, but dropped the last two games of the series.

"Last year, we couldn't win on Saturday," Balatico said. "This time, we'll be coming out firing."

Today's finale starts at 1:05 p.m. Hawai'i will start Joshua Schnedier against Steven Vidal.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.