Shane Peterson's run-scoring double with two outs in the top of the 12th gave No. 10 Long Beach State a 4-3 win against Hawai'i in the opener of the non-conference, three-game series last night.

A Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 1,674 saw the Rainbows (5-7) take a 3-0 lead behind Jared Alexander through seven innings against the Dirtbags (7-2), who are fielding one of their best teams ever because of quality and depth. But LBSU tied it with a three-run eighth before winning it in the 12th, handing the Rainbows their fourth straight loss.

"It was a great college baseball game," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "I could not be more proud of our kids for the way our kids competed all the way to the last out for 12 innings. It just didn't go our way tonight."

In the top of the 12th, Matt Daly walked Ted Lemasters to start the inning, his third walk of the night in relief. Chris Nelson's bunt attempt was a soft liner to first baseman Kevin Macdonald, who turned and threw to Jon Hee covering and just missed doubling off the runner. Danny Espinosa flied out to center, but Peterson drilled a 1-0 fastball to the left-center gap. Center fielder Brandon Haislet made a dive at it, but barely missed it. Even though left fielder Derek DuPree had the play backed up, it was still deep enough to score Lemasters with the go-ahead run.

"I knew Dupes (DuPree) was back there to back me up," Haislet said. "I thought I could make an effort to get us out of the inning."

Peterson said he wasn't necessarily looking for a game-winning hit.

"I was just trying to put the ball in play, to get more base runners because we didn't have enough tonight," said Peterson.

Daly (2-1) came on in relief with two outs in the eighth. He went 4 1/3 innings, allowing a run, four hits and three walks with four strikeouts. He was scheduled to start tomorrow's game, but having 61 pitches, he won't, Trapasso said.

"Once it was tied, it was one of those deals where we just rolled the dice," Trapasso said of leaving Daly in. "Once you're tied and you're going into extra innings, you feel most comfortable with your best guy on the mound. If you're going to beat a top 10 team in the country, want to take the series, you have to win on Friday and you might have to roll the dice a little bit."

"He battled. He did a nice job. But the old story: lead-off walks are going to get you. We're going to continue to stress that and work on that to get better."

The game was a classic pitchers' duel between UH starter Alexander and Andrew Liebel of LBSU.

Alexander, who had allowed two runs (one earned) in 6 1/3 innings against top-ranked (by Collegiate Baseball) Arizona State last weekend, had held the Dirtbags scoreless through seven, despite an uncharacteristic six walks. In fact, the was throwing a one-hitter through seven, when he allowed a single to T.J. Mittelstaedt to start the eighth and double by pinch hitter Lemasters. That's when he was lifted for Jayson Kramer, who struck out the first two batters he faced before giving up an RBI single to Peterson to put runners at the corners. Kramer then hit pinch hitter Devin Lohan to load the bases. That's when Daly came and when freshman pinch hitter John Hill, getting his first plate appearance of the season, drilled a 96-mph fastball (according to LBSU) to right field for a two-run single to tie the game at 3. Lohan was thrown out trying for third on the play to end the inning.

Dirtbags' coach Mike Weathers was impressed, but not surprised by Alexander's performance.

"Some scouts (who had seen Alexander pitch against Arizona State) said we were going to have our hands full and we did," Weathers said. "He dominated. I thought we had some missed chances with his walks but we didn't captialize on them and he kept us off the board."

Liebel was good, too, going eight innings, allowing three runs, five hits and a walk with nine strikeouts. He entered the game having not given up an earned run, but that ended after 19 innings, when Vinnie Catricala ripped a two out home run to left-center, his third homer of the season, to give UH a 1-0 lead in the fourth.

The Rainbows scored again in the sixth with one out. Hee walked and took second on DuPree's bunt single to third. Haislet then drilled a two-run double to left-center, just by a diving center fielder Nelson to make it 3-0.

But the Dirtbags, who entered with a team earned run average of 1.89, got solid relief work from David Roberts (two scoreless innings), Dustin Rasco (one-third of an inning), Nick Vincent (two-thirds of an inning) and closer Bryan Shaw (one scoreless for his third save). Vincent (3-0) got the decision.

"I thought our relief guys did a good job," Weathers said. "Rasco walked two guys and that's not like him. But Vincent came in there, he's kind of our second closer."

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.