Mistakes and blown opportunities hurt Hawai'i and helped No. 9 UC Irvine sweep a doubleheader by identical 5-4 scores yesterday to clinch the four-game series.

The Rainbows (0-3) committed two errors after a 3-3 tie that led to two runs and then failed to get a bunt down with the tying and winning runs aboard to start the bottom of the seventh and scheduled final inning of the nightcap against the Anteaters (3-0) before 1,431 at Les Murakami Stadium.

The series concludes at 1:05 p.m. today. The Rainbows need to win to avoid matching their worst start in UH coach Mike Trapasso's era when they started 0-4 in 2004 after getting swept in three by nationally ranked Texas and losing to Cal State Northridge in the series opener the following week.

"We out-hit a great team, 10 to 4, but that means nothing when three of their runs are a hit batsmen and two walks that come around to score," Trapasso said. "We made two bad errors that gave them two runs. We had a runner on third with less than two (outs) twice and we don't get them in and we can't get a bunt down. We didn't deserve to win that one. We made too many mistakes and yet still, there we were with an opportunity to win it and that's the frustrating thing."

After dropping the opener, the Rainbows wasted a three-run first inning in the second game when the Anteaters jumped on UH starter Alex Capaul for three in the second. But a fourth-inning throwing error by catcher Kevin Fujii on a pick-off attempt to second base allowed the runner to take third and score on D.J. Crumlich's sacrifice fly to break the tie. Then in the fifth, a one-out throwing error by shortstop Greg Garcia, who was trying to get a force at second, put runners at second and third with one eventually scoring and making the difference in the game.

"We'll learn from it," Trapasso said. "We're going to be a better team a week from now when we stop making those mistakes. That's not indicative of the way we play defense. We have to get back to playing within ourselves. Those two errors were from trying to do too much."

The Rainbows jumped on UCI starter Crosby Slaught in the first. Garcia doubled with one out and scored on Vinnie Catricala's single. After taking second on a balk, Catricala could only move to third because he apparently thought Jeffrey Van Doornum's double to right might be caught. But Kevin Macdonald delivered a two-run single to make it 3-0.

Capaul (0-1) labored in the second after getting the first two batters out. Tony Asaro singled and then Casey Stevenson was hit by a pitch. Crumlich, Sammy Donabedian and Sean Madigan each followed with RBI singles in succession to tie the score at 3.

"He's got to understand he's got the stuff to be a big-time weekend guy and I really believe he's going to be," Trapasso said of Capaul. "But he's got to take that next step from freshman to sophomore. He's got to grow up and get tougher."

In the fourth, Asaro walked to start the inning against Capaul. After taking second on a hit-and-run ground out to second by Stevenson, Fujii tried to pick off Asaro, but his throw got away, allowing the runner to take third, where he eventually scored the go-ahead run on Crumlich's sacrifice fly.

The Anteaters scored again in the fifth after a one-out walk by reliever Sam Spangler was eventually cashed in on Garcia's error and subsequent run-scoring groundout by Dillon Bell.

The Rainbows pulled to within one in the fifth. Van Doornum led off with a single, stole second and took third on the catcher's throwing error on the play. Christian Johnson's triple between the left and center fielders scored Van Doornum to make it 5-4.

In the bottom of the seventh, closer Eric Pettis was greeted by back-to-back singles by Catricala and Van Doornum to put runners at first and second. But Macdonald's bunt was popped up in foul ground to the catcher for the first out. Johnson then hit a sharp grounder to second for a game-ending double play to give Pettis his second save of the day.

Brock Bardeen (1-0) was credited with the decision by going 2 1/3 innings, allowing a run and two hits and two walks. Starter Slaught left with the lead, but only went 3 1/3 innings, falling two-thirds of an inning shy of qualifying for the decision.

In the opener, the Anteaters jumped on UH starter Nate Klein for four runs in the first inning, when he gave up an RBI single to Bell, RBI double to Francis Larson and two-run single to Ryan Fisher.

Larson's solo home run to left-center in the third made it 5-0. He also tripled in the sixth, but missed the cycle when UH finally retired him with a fly to center in the eighth.

The Rainbows got a run in the bottom of the third on a sacrifice fly by Catricala and pulled to 5-2 on a fourth-inning sacrifice fly by Landon Hernandez.

UCI starter Christian Bergman (1-0), a preseason All-America pick, was cruising along until the eighth. With two outs, Macdonald reached on a throwing error by shortstop Ben Orloff and Johnson followed with a monster blast to right over both walls for his first career home run to pull UH to 5-4. Hernandez grounded out to end the threat.

Pettis retired the side in order in the ninth for the save.

Bergman went eight innings, allowing four runs (one earned), seven hits and a walk with one strikeout. Klein managed to last six innings despite a 29-pitch first inning, allowing five runs, eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

"Nate just didn't throw well today, but you look up, he guts his way through six innings," said Trapasso, who added Klein's pitches were high all day. "That's huge for our team in the first game of a doubleheader (lasting six innings). That's huge for the bullpen, huge for the momentum of our guys to see that this guy's going to battle through without squat (on his pitches). I was pleased with the way he battled."

Harrison Kuroda settled the game to keep the Rainbows in striking distance, pitching one-hit ball over three scoreless innings.

"Harry really got into a groove and made pitches," Trapasso said.

Notes: UCI coach Mike Gillespie watched the second game from the upper seats, serving a school-imposed suspension. He said it was the first of three games he is to be suspended for inadvertently using an ineligible player during the fall in three scrimmage games against a junior college team. The Anteaters or any other UH opponent that travels here for that matter, can take advantage of the Hawai'i exemption. The exemption doesn't count games played here to help UH schedule Mainland opponents. Ironically, the rule doesn't help UH now because of the uniform starting date in Division I.

Gillespie said the school self-reported the violation to the NCAA, but hasn't had any response yet from the governing body. He said he will sit out two future games, but not today's series finale.

"We anticipate there will be a penalty for me and a penalty for the player, which is silly because all he did was read his name in the lineup and played," Gillespie said. "In anticipation of being suspended — we still haven't heard from them and it's been two months — we would self-impose the violation and we would choose to suspend ourselves for three games, this being one of them."