After falling on the short end of a no-hitter a little over a week ago, Jayson Kramer responded with eight scoreless innings to help Hawai'i beat San Jose State, 3-0, last night in the Western Athletic Conference season opener.

Kramer (2-3) battled Spartans' left-hander David Berner (5-1) in a pitchers' duel before 2,597, the largest crowd of the season at Les Murakami Stadium.

"It was a really great baseball game," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "That's two pitchers really pitching well. It's such a fine line. Just a couple elevated pitches when we're hitting and we get a triple and a home run out of it. The timing was just different and we were able to survive it."

It was 1-0 through six until Vinnie Catricala's two-run home run to left-center off Berner gave the Rainbows (17-9 overall, 1-0 WAC) some breathing room against the Spartans (19-6, 0-1).

"It was a great ball game," echoed SJSU coach Sam Piraro. (Both) pitchers did a great job. Both guys were outstanding. Their guy was just a little bit better than ours."

Kramer allowed six hits and two walks with two strikeouts in matching a season-high for innings. Of his 24 outs, 20 were recorded on grounders. Jason Martin had the only flyout and John Shaffer was caught stealing third on a double-steal try in the fifth.

"I was just trying to get my two-seamer over for strikes and let my good defense do the work for me," Kramer said.

The Spartans stranded nine runners, six in scoring position. They threatened to take the lead in the fourth when Kyle Bellows and Danny Stienstra got successive singles and advanced to second and third on a wild pitch on an 0-2 count to Jacob Bruns. The Rainbows were conceding the run by playing their infield back, but after two fouls Kramer got Bruns to swing and miss at a changeup for the second out. Anthony Aguilera grounded out to short and Kramer still had his shutout.

"I had a 1-2 (count), so you do look for the strikeout in that time because a ground ball will bring in the run," Kramer said. "I threw my changeup in the dirt and he swung at it."

Kramer walked his first batter of the game with one out in the seventh, but the runner was stranded there. But before the last out, Trapasso paid Kramer a visit.

"He was falling in and out of rhythm his last couple innings," Trapasso said. "I wanted him to focus on his direction because he was struggling with that. Call it paranoia, we thought maybe (the Spartans) were into something, they were picking something out of him out of his stretch. He might have been tipping pitches, so we made sure that he kept everything tight."

In the eighth, Kramer walked Karson Klauer on four pitches to start the inning after Catricala had cushioned his 1-0 lead with the two-run homer. But Kramer got Martin to ground to short for a double play.

"That guy was really tough when he had to be," Piraro said of Kramer.

Meanwhile, Berner was perfect his first time through the lineup. But in the fourth, Greg Garcia lifted a high fastball to the right-field wall for a triple. The Spartans brought their infield in, but Ryan Morford, moved to the second spot in the order, grounded a single through the hole, just by second baseman Craig Hertler to give UH a 1-0 lead. Berner later got a double play to get out of the inning and got two more twin killings in the next two innings. But in the seventh, Morford singled to right-center and Catricala ripped a belt-high inside fastball over the left-center field wall to make it 3-0.

After 96 pitches through eight, Kramer gave way to freshman right-hander Lenny Linsky in the ninth. Bruns drew a one-out walk before pinch hitter Breyon Canez struck out. Ironically, a ground-rule double to center by Corey Valine preserved the shutout, as Bruns had to return to third. John Shaffer flied out to center to end the game and give Linsky his first save.

"It was exciting, trying to hold the lead for Kramer because he pitched a hell of a game," Linsky said.

The veteran Rainbows seemed sure of themselves in the close game.

"The entire year I've been in tight games, so really it felt natural to me," Kramer said "I just went out there and tried to concentrate, tried to get ground balls."

Catricala had so much confidence in the team's pitching.

"I felt our pitchers were there," he said. "With one run or three, I was confident we were going to win."

Added Linsky: "It's great. It really sets the tone for the whole series."

The series resumes at 3:05 p.m. today with a doubleheader. The opener is nine innings with the second game set for seven.