Ian Harrington picked up where he left off and Kris Sanchez had three hits to help Hawai'i beat Santa Clara, 8-1, Friday night in the collegiate baseball season opener for both teams.

A Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,767 watched Harrington (1-0) win his sixth consecutive decision dating to last season.

"I don't think you could ask for anything more," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "He was on a 90-pitch count. He pitched ahead and threw all three (pitches) for strikes. I like the way Santa Clara swings the bat. That's a very good offensive club. They got 12 hits, but we were able to keep the walks to one and only made one error."

Harrington went 6 2/3 innings, allowing a first-inning run, seven hits and a walk with no strikeouts. Jayson Kramer scattered five hits while not allowing a walk in the final 2 1/3 innings.

"It was good to see Jayson Kramer just come in and force contact," Trapasso added.

But the news wasn't all good for UH. Second baseman Jon Hee subluxed his left shoulder after making a diving stop on a grounder up the middle on an infield single by Tommy Medica in the sixth inning. Hee missed eight games last year because of a similar injury.

Trapasso said Hee is out for the series. Nathan Young replaced Hee at second. Trapasso said Young or Kevin Macdonald will play second the remainder of the series. He added that Jorge Franco, who also has experience as a middle infielder, will practice at second during the week to improve depth at the position.

"I soon as I dove, I knew (it was subluxed)," Hee said. "When I made the throw, (the shoulder) was out."

The only run for the Broncos came in the first inning when the left-handed hitting Kevin Drever grounded an opposite-field double to start the game. He took second on a sacrifice and scored on a chop double just over first base by Matt Long in an 11-pitch at-bat.

"Sometimes you can make good pitches and metal bats will still beat you," Harrington said. "He beat me, so...."

But the Rainbows did the same to Broncos' starter Matthew Wickswat (0-1), a left-hander who was 9-2 last season as a freshman. They put together good at-bats, such as an 11-pitch plate appearance by Eli Christensen that resulted in a walk in the second inning, when the Rainbows tied the game at 1. Landon Hernandez's single scored Sanchez, who led off the inning with a double.

The Rainbows then sent 10 batters to the plate in a four-run third when Wickswat allowed an uncharacteristic three walks, all of which were cashed in by UH.

"One of the best at-bats was by Christensen," Santa Clara coach Mark O'Brien said. "He did a heck of a job there. We gave 'em three free passes in (the third) inning. They took advantage, which is what good teams do. They had some really quality at-bats against what I thought was a pretty good left-hander in Wickswat. That inning definitely helped them."

Added Trapasso: "I really like Wickswat. He's a good pitcher. There's no secret why he won nine games last year. I was happy with the way we swung the bats. We just have to come back and do it again."

Sanchez led UH's 14-hit attack by batting 3 for 4 with two doubles and two RBIs. Hernandez was 2 for 5 with two RBIs and Hee was 2 for 3 before his injury. Christensen had two RBIs on a pair of sacrifice flies. For the left-handed hitting Sanchez, it was a good start.

"That was a big issue coach wanted me to address this year," Sanchez said. "I didn't hit so good against left-handers last year. I wanted to come out and be aggressive and get good swings."

"That's what we need from him," Trapasso said of Sanchez. "It was good to see him get off to a good start."

Wickswat allowed five runs on six hits and four walks with two strikeouts in 2 2/3 innings.

Meanwhile, Harrington provided what UH needed in the series opener: a strong outing. He was pulled after his 91st pitch with two outs in the seventh. Trapasso had Tyler Davis warming when the score was still 5-1. When UH added two in the sixth, Kramer was sent to warm up.

Harrington said he knew he could rely on his defense by just throwing strikes.

"You look around tonight and you see the plays being made in the field," Harrington said. "It makes life easy on the mound. We get Jon Hee laying out the way he does all the time, you have (catcher) Landon throwing guys outs. It makes stuff easy and you don't worry how they make out."

Meanwhile, right-handed pitcher Josh Schneider became eligible to pitch in the series, but Sunday's starting pitcher is still not determined, Trapasso said.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.