HONOLULU (Interstat) — Ricky Ojeda and Danny Suarez combined for seven hitless innings of relief, and Daniel Polasek drove in two runs as the UC Irvine Anteaters defeated the Hawaii Warriors 5-1 in a Big West Conference baseball game Sunday evening at Neal S. Blaisdell Center.

The Anteaters (16-17, 4-5 Big West) broke open a scoreless game with a four-run third inning and relied on dominant pitching to secure the series victory. The Warriors (13-11, 3-6) managed only four hits, with their lone run coming in the second inning.

The most important sequence of the game occurred in the bottom of the third, immediately after UC Irvine’s offensive outburst. Starter Jack Ross, who allowed one run over two innings, was relieved by Ojeda. The right-hander promptly extinguished any potential Hawaii momentum, retiring the side in order with two strikeouts. He set the tone for the rest of the game, ultimately pitching four perfect innings with five strikeouts.

Ojeda’s performance, following his four-inning, one-run outing against UC Davis on April 3, was the cornerstone of the victory. He was relieved by Suarez, who continued the bullpen’s mastery with three more hitless innings, allowing just one walk and striking out one to close out the game.

UC Irvine’s decisive third inning was sparked by patience and timely hitting. Noah Alvarez and Efrain Ortega drew walks against Hawaii starter Liam O’Brien. After a pitching change to Gabe Garman and a balk that moved both runners into scoring position, Polasek laced a double to right field, scoring Alvarez. Frankie Carney followed with a sacrifice fly to bring home Ortega. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded, Luke Gaz was hit by a pitch to force in Polasek, capping the four-run rally.

The Anteaters added an insurance run in the sixth when Polasek, who finished 3 for 5, singled, advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Zander Doyle.

Hawaii’s only offense came in the second inning. Cole Hoffman walked, advanced to third on two groundouts and scored on an RBI single up the middle by Niko Rodriguez off Ross.

Warriors reliever Tsubasa Tomii provided a bright spot, throwing three innings of one-run ball with four strikeouts after entering in the fourth. Josiah Shipley and Caleb Okada also contributed scoreless relief outings.

The result flipped the script from the preseason projection, as Interstat’s game simulator had predicted a narrow 5-4 UC Irvine victory, and its ELO system gave the Anteaters a 56.2% chance to win.

UC Irvine, which has won four of its last five games, will host UC Santa Barbara for a three-game series starting Friday. Hawaii, which has lost three of four, begins a road trip at Cal State Bakersfield on Friday.