Steve Morlock pitched a three-hitter to help UC Santa Barbara down Hawai'i, 3-1, in the Gauchos' home season opener yesterday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara, Calif.

The right-handed Morlock (1-1) retired the last 16 batters in a row as the Rainbows (7-3) had their five-game winning streak snapped by the Gauchos (2-1). He walked one and struck out nine, the most times UH has fanned in a game this season. He only faced two batters over the minimum.

While UH coach Mike Trapasso credited Morlock's performance, he was disappointed in his own team's effort.

"He threw very good and I'll tip my hat to him, but it was about as bad an effort I've seen out of our guys in a long, long time," Trapasso said. "We just threw our gloves out on the field. We had no intensity. He was throwing well, but we just didn't make any adjustments. ... No excuses for us. We just didn't come to play today."

But Trapasso expects the team to bounce back. It is a veteran club that usually adjusts after a wake-up call.

"We have to be ready and I expect us to be more locked in tomorrow because that's the type of kids we've got," Trapasso said.

Ian Harrington (2-2) wasn't as sharp, but was relatively effective. He allowed three runs, seven hits and a walk with two strikeouts in six innings. Matt Daly worked two scoreless innings of relief.

The Gauchos wasted little time against Harrington, scoring twice in the first. Patrick Rose led off with a bloop single over the mound that was too far in front of the middle infielders.

"It went right off the guy's knuckles," Trapasso said of the pitch Rose hit. "It was a great pitch and blooped over Ian's head and in the middle of no-man's land."

Robbie Blauer then grounded a single to right that sent Rose to third. But right fielder Evan Zimny missed the cutoff, allowing Blauer to take second. Mario Lewis' ground out to short scored Rose and moved Blauer to third, where he scored on Mike Zuanich's sacrifice fly to right to make it 2-0. Had the cutoff been made, Blauer would have likely been at second on that fly ball.

"We should've only given them one," Trapasso said. "But that run never came into play because we never mounted any kind of threat offensively."

The Rainbows got one back in the fourth. After Jorge Franco led off with a single and was caught stealing, Jon Hee — starting for the first time since the season opener Jan. 26, when he subluxed his left shoulder — walked, took second when Justin Frash grounded out to first and scored on Kris Sanchez's line single to center. Sanchez, who extended his hitting streak to 14 games counting the end of last year, was the last UH batter to reach, as Morlock retired the next 16 in succession.

The Gauchos secured their lead with another run in the bottom of the fourth. Zuanich led off with a walk, one out later took second on Chris McMurray's single and scored on Matt Valaika's single to make it 3-1.

Franco was 2 for 4 from the lead-off spot. He moved from left to center, replacing Brandon Haislet, who did not start because of back problems. Hee was 0 for 3 with a walk in his return to action. Derek DuPree started for the first time this season by going 0 for 3 as the designated hitter.

The series continues at 11 a.m., Hawai'i time, today. Jeff Braun (0-0) will pitch for UCSB against UH's Mark Rodrigues (3-0) in a battle of senior left-handers.