Despite an early six-run lead, Hawai'i did not easily put away Sacramento State in a 9-6 win of a Western Athletic Conference series opener yesterday at Hornet Field in Sacramento, Calif.

The Rainbows (23-11 overall, 4-3 WAC) sent 11 batters to the plate in a six-run second inning, but nearly let the Hornets (9-21, 4-6) off the hook by allowing them to close to 6-4 after six innings. A three-run seventh turned out to be the difference, sending the Hornets to their sixth straight loss.

"We went into cruise control and played like we were half asleep," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "We played like we weren't very tough today and it was disappointing. The only good thing today was that we won."

Kris Sanchez, Vinnie Catricala and Eli Christensen — the fifth, seventh and ninth hitters in the lineup — each drove in two runs for the Rainbows, who were out-hit 13-11, but made up the difference with five walks and two hit batsmen. Three who walked and one of the hit batters eventually scored. Also, two Hornets errors led to three unearned runs in the second.

Starting pitcher Ian Harrington rejoined the team after a bereavement leave for a family friend. He allowed four runs and seven hits and struck out four in 5 2/3 innings. He needed help from Matt Daly (1 2/3 innings, two runs) and Jayson Kramer (1 2/3 scoreless innings), who registered his second save. But it was the fourth start in a row that Harrington has not completed at least six innings, forcing Trapasso to burn the two relievers in the process.

"He was OK in the early portion," Trapasso said. "But we need him to give us more innings than that because to have to go to the bullpen when you have a six-run lead right out of the gate and you still end up having to use Daly and Kramer, it's inexcusable."

Daly used close to 50 pitches and is not expected to be available today.

The Rainbows took advantage of the Hornets' replacement starting pitcher Tommy Gonzales (0-1), who entered the game with a 6.61 earned run average. The right-hander lasted just 1 1/3 innings, allowing six runs, three unearned because of two errors in the six-run second. Alvaro Orozco was scheduled to start.

It was the bottom half of the order, from No. 5 batter Sanchez on down that set the table for the second inning. Sanchez (2 for 4) led off with a walk against Gonzales, took second on Kevin Macdonald's sacrifice and scored the first run on a one-out double by freshman Catricala (2 for 5).

Landon Hernandez singled and Christensen was hit, loading the bases and setting up a walk to Jon Hee that scored the second run. Gonzales was replaced by left-hander John Schlager, who got Derek DuPree on a sacrifice fly to left that made it 3-0. Consecutive errors by the Hornets allowed Justin Frash and Brandon Haislet to reach safely and led to another run. Sanchez hit a two-run single, but then was thrown out at the plate for the third out while trying to score on Macdonald's single.

The Hornets chipped away with a run-scoring double by Tim Wheeler in the bottom of the third and lead-off home run in the fifth by David Flores to make it 6-2.

A sacrifice fly by Blake Crosby and RBI single by pinch hitter Jeff Hannah in the sixth pulled the Hornets to 6-4 and ended Harrington's day. Daly struck out Flores to end the inning.

The Rainbows added insurance runs on an RBI groundout to third by Catricala with the bases loaded and later a two-run single by Christensen to make it 9-4, only to have the Hornets score twice in the bottom of the seventh on another RBI single by Hannah and by Travis Kirkman.

Gary Johnson led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to third, but Kramer retired the next three batters to end the game.

Trapasso was disappointed the Rainbows could not take advantage of the strong start that could have set the tone for the rest of the series.

"We could've just got a hold of the momentum," Trapasso said. "When you got somebody down, you should just step right on their throats. But we just don't have that killer instinct in us right now."

The series resumes at 11 a.m., HST, today. After contemplating switching starters, UH will start left-hander Mark Rodrigues (6-2, 2.68). A decision was made after he threw a pain-free bullpen session Wednesday morning before the team's flight to Sacramento. Rodrigues had experienced some tightness after his last start against San Jose State Saturday. The Hornets are scheduled to start redshirt freshman right-hander Trevor York (1-5, 6.65).

In other related matters, Baseball America Online released its midseason projected 64-team NCAA field yesterday. It picked UH to play in the Cal State Fullerton regional. The Rainbows were the only WAC team it selected, meaning it is projecting UH to win the WAC tournament.