Faster than your average catcher, Kevin Fujii dived into home plate as he scored the winning run from second base off a single to shortstop by Sean Montplaisir with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to rally Hawai'i by Alabama-Birmingham, 4-3, last night in the opener of a two-game non-conference series.

A Les Murakami Stadium gathering of 663, including a fan waving his arms like in the movie "Angels in the Outfield" with Montplaisir at the plate, watched the Rainbows (6-9) snap a six-game losing streak by rallying from a 2-0 deficit with a three-run seventh, only to see the Blazers (6-8) tie it at 3 with a run in the top of the ninth.

"We needed to score and I was just waiting for Coach Meij (third-base coach Keith Komeiji) to give me the 'go' sign or hold me up or whatever," said Fujii, listed with the second-fastest 60-yard shuttle time on the team at 11.85 seconds in the media guide. "He gave me the 'go' sign so I was just chugging."

With one out in the bottom of the ninth, Fujii was hit by a pitch from UAB reliever Kyle Roberson (1-2). Running on an 0-1 pitch, Fujii reached second when Greg Garcia grounded out to second. Jon Hee, who entered the game with a .358 batting average, was intentionally walked for the second time in the game.

Roberson started off with two called strikes to Montplaisir, who fouled off three of the next five pitches (the other two were balls) before hitting a hard grounder up the middle that shortstop Jonathan Merritt smothered after diving for the ball. Fujii kept on running and slid under the tag of catcher Cody McMurry with the winning run.

"It was nerve-racking," Montplaisir said. "They intentionally walked (Hee) to get to me, so I was a little nervous, but I felt I kind of had something to prove up there; they're trying to walk to get to me."

But UH coach Mike Trapasso, while pleased with the win, wasn't satisfied with the performance.

"The ironic thing is we win a close game, but we didn't play well at all," he said. "Very disappointed with our effort the first six innings ... I didn't like our approach at all. We were just clocking in. I don't think we got better today. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy we won. We were fortunate."

UAB starter Johnny Volk, who entered the game with a 9.00 earned run average from two starts totaling seven innings, kept the Rainbows in check for six innings. He went 6 1/3 innings, allowing a run on three hits and two walks with six strikeouts. Of the three hits he allowed, only one made it to the outfield. The Rainbows hit seven grounders for outs, including a double play, and two infield pop outs.

Hawai'i's Josh Slaats went six innings, the longest stint from a freshman starter this season. He allowed a run, five hits and three walks with four strikeouts. But the Blazers took a 1-0 lead in the first. With one out, he hit Brint Hardy and walked Phil Bell. With Ryan Keedy at the plate, Hardy stole third, as Bell held first. Later, Bell stole second, but Slaats struck out Keedy. Austin Taylor followed with an RBI single to short.

"I thought Slaats gave us a good effort, kept us in the game, although the run in the first was the same old story, hit batters, freebies," Trapasso said.

Jayson Kramer started the seventh and gave up a run on three successive hits to increase UAB's lead to 2-0.

But the Rainbows sent nine batters to the plate in a three-run seventh. Volk walked Vinnie Catricala, who took second on Evan Zimny's sacrifice. Volk was lifted for Roberson, who gave up an RBI single to Kevin Macdonald to pull UH to 2-1.

Landon Hernandez walked on four pitches and Fujii hit a smash off shortstop Merritt's glove that caromed toward right-center for an RBI double to tie the score at 2. Pinch hitter Garcia hit a soft liner to Roberson, who fired to second baseman Nick Crawford covering. Crawford and shortstop Merritt were both near the bag for Roberson's throw. TV replays showed that Crawford had his foot on the bag in time to double-off the runner that would have ended the inning. Instead, the Blazers intentionally walked Hee to load the bases. But Roberson hit Montplaisir on the helmet to force across a run that gave UH a 3-2 lead.

Kramer struck out the side in order in the eighth, but Matt Daly (3-1) came in to pitch the ninth. Crawford led off by singling just inside the third base bag and Merritt walked. After Hardy struck out, Bell grounded to short for a force at second to put runners at the corners. But Keedy doubled to left to tie the score at 3 before Daly struck out Taylor to end the inning.

The series concludes at 6:35 tonight. Josh Schneider will start for UH in a game that will be be staffed. The Blazers will go with Mitch Kloskowski (2-0, 1.12).

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.