Kris Sanchez drove in three runs and Hawai'i fought off an eighth-inning surge to hold off Fresno State, 9-8, last night at Beiden Field in Fresno, Calif.

It was the kind of game expected from the two teams picked as co-favorites in the Western Athletic Conference. With the win, the Rainbows (25-13 overall, 6-4 WAC) share second place with the Bulldogs (21-19, 6-4). Both trail Louisiana Tech (27-14, 7-3), a 5-2 victor at Sacramento State yesterday, by one game.

"Anytime you can get a win at Fresno against Fresno, it's a good win," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "We'll take it and see what happens tomorrow."

What UH needs today is for starting pitcher Joshua Schneider to last longer than the five innings Mark Rodrigues gave yesterday. Once again, UH had to burn more relief innings than it had hoped when Matt Daly and Tyler Davis each chipped in two innings. Daly, who used 48 pitches in two-plus innings, won't be available today, Trapasso said. Davis is available because he kept his pitch count relatively low (29).

Daly and Davis nearly squandered UH's 9-3 lead in the eighth. Daly, who pitched two perfect innings, walked two and allowed two singles, including one that drove in two runs. Davis gave up an RBI double and RBI single that pulled FSU to within one run.

"The shame is we need to get more out our starters than five innings when you got a big lead early like that," Trapasso said.

The Bulldogs' chance at a ninth-inning rally was squelched when Loren Storey led off with a single to center, but was thrown out at second trying to stretch his hit into a double. Davis struck out the next two batters to end the game.

"That was the game right there," Trapasso said. "That really gave us a sigh of relief."

Rodrigues (7-2) gave up three runs, five hits and a walk with three strikeouts in becoming the WAC's wins leader. Daly was charged with four runs, while Davis gave up one in recording his third save.

Rodrigues, the No. 2 starter all season, was pushed up with the hope that he could give UH a quality outing. But only once in UH's last 10 starts from their weekend rotation has a starter pitched beyond six innings.

Bulldogs' starter Clayton Allison (6-3) lasted one-plus innings, allowing four runs (three earned), two hits and two walks. Four relievers followed him with three of them combining to allow five runs (four earned), 11 hits and five walks.

The Rainbows sent 10 batters to the plate in a five-run second that was ignited by Sanchez's two-run home run, his team-leading eighth blast of the season. He was 2 for 4 with three RBIs.

Hawai'i added two runs in the sixth on successive doubles by Jon Hee, Jorge Franco and Justin Frash.

Hee's run-scoring double in the eighth and Sanchez's RBI single that followed a Brandon Haislet double accounted for the rest of UH's scoring.

In all, the Rainbows hit a season-high six doubles among their 14 hits. Hee and Vinnie Catricala led the way with three hits apiece.

Although the pitching was shaky for UH, Trapasso was pleased with the overall effort.

"Even had we lost that game had they come back, as devastating a situation that might have been, I would've been still super, super proud of these kids because all you can ask is that they fight and scratch and claw for nine innings," he said. "That doesn't guarantee you're going to win the games, but it sure guarantees that you're going to have a chance to."

The series resumes at 3 p.m. today and will be broadcast on 1420 AM.