Hawai'i scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to rally past Louisiana Tech, 7-4, last night in a wild Western Athletic Conference series opener.

A Les Murakami Stadium crowd of 2,625 — the largest turnstile count of the season — watched the Rainbows (26-15 overall, 7-6 WAC) pick up a game in the standings, pulling to two games on now co-leaders Louisiana Tech (29-15, 9-4) and Fresno State (9-4), a 7-0 winner against New Mexico State last night.

The rally came after the Bulldogs scored twice in the top of the seventh to take a 4-3 lead. An infield single by Justin Frash tied it, but two ensuing errors on the same play brought home the go-ahead runs.

"That was the greatest ever," UH relief pitcher Matt Daly said. "Everybody was picking each other up. The intensity in the dugout was great. I think everybody felt we were going to come back in that game ... It was huge. It's something to build off of (for the rest of the series)."

"We battled the whole way and we played well," UH coach Mike Trapasso said. "It was a strange game, the way it came down."

Indeed.

Trailing 4-3 with one out in the eighth, Eli Christensen singled to right-center and took second on Jon Hee's sky-chop single to short against Brandon Hudson. Pinch hitter Kevin Macdonald lined a single to left to the right of left fielder Brian Rike, who threw a strike to home to nail Christensen for the second out. Hudson was pulled for closer Aaron Lorio with runners at the corners. Justin Frash then hit a chopper off Lorio's glove that caromed toward third baseman Courtney Jones to score Hee. But Jones' throw was in the dirt and couldn't be dug up by first baseman Albie Goulder, allowing pinch runner Jorge Franco to score and send Frash to third. But right fielder Jericho Jones' return throw to the infield sailed toward the third base dugout, allowing Frash to score to make it 6-4.

"When it hit off the pitcher's glove I knew I had a hit," Frash said. "Everybody kept running. I was just following everybody. Balls were being thrown every where so I just kept sprinting as hard as I could."

Brandon Haislet followed with a single, took second on a passed ball and scored on Kris Sanchez's double to left-center to make it 7-4.

Hudson (4-2) allowed two runs, five hits and two walks in three innings for the Bulldogs.

Daly (3-1) pitched three scoreless innings, allowing a hit and a walk with four strikeouts. But not after an inauspicious start. He inherited a bases loaded situation from Jayson Kramer, who bailed out starter Mark Rodrigues with two strikeouts, the second on a double play when a runner was caught stealing third in the sixth. Kramer started the seventh by allowing two hits and a walk. When Daly came in, his first offering was a wild pitch to pinch hitter Drew Bunting, allowing the tying run to score, making it 3-3. Bunting walked, and with the infield drawn in, Adam Cobb hit a grounder to short for a force at the plate, reloading the bases. Jericho Jones' sacrifice fly to right put Tech ahead, 4-3, before Daly struck out Brian Rike.

"That first pitch, I was trying to go away and the pitch came out of my hand funny and threw it away," Daly explained.

Tech took a 2-0 lead in the fourth when Rodrigues, who entered the game having walked just six in 67 innings, walked two batters with one out, and with the aid of a balk, saw both score on Hudson's bad-hop single over first baseman Sanchez. But the Rainbows tied it in the bottom of the inning on Brandon Haislet's two-run home run to left off a changeup.

The Rainbows took the lead in the fifth against Tech starter Luke Burnett. Nat Roquemore walked with one out and stole second. One out later he took third on Haislet's single to left and scored on a passed ball with Sanchez at the plate.

It was the seventh consecutive win by UH against Tech since last season, when the Rainbows won four in Ruston, La., and two in Fresno, Calif., at the WAC tournament. The series resumes at 6:35 tonight.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.