Slowly, but surely, Hawai'i's bullpen depth is starting develop.

Sophomore right-hander Jayson Kramer inherited and pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam with a two-run lead in the seventh in Hawai'i's 9-2 win against Wisconsin-Milwaukee last night in the opener of a four-game non-conference series.

Kramer pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings of one-hit ball, striking out four to notch his first save for the Rainbows (16-8) before 1,074 at Les Murakami Stadium.

"His last two outings, he's been really good," UH coach Mike Trapasso said of Kramer, a 2005 graduate of Mid-Pacific Institute. "We saw him come of age, so to speak, tonight. That was a big situation for us. He threw really well today. I'm proud of him."

If anything, Kramer adds to UH's bullpen arsenal. He gives Trapasso another arm he can trust when the game's on the line.

"It's something we need," Trapasso said. "He's a guy with tremendous stuff and with him it's just a matter of confidence and opportunity. The more opportunities he's getting, the better he's doing and the more confidence he's getting, the more opportunities he's going to get."

With Kramer establishing himself as someone reliable, it becomes handy for situations like last night when Matt Daly had an off night. Daly's three walks in the seventh loaded the bases in the inning.

"He just couldn't find it, didn't have the command," Trapasso said. "Having a guy like Kramer on a Friday night is what it's all about. Get (Daly) out of there before he runs his pitch counts up so we can bring him back tomorrow if we need him."

Hawai'i starter Ian Harrington (4-4) allowed two runs and seven hits with six strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. Daly came in with runners at the corners and one out in the sixth for Harrington, retiring Troy Vesling on a sacrifice fly to center and Ross McCoy on a fly to left to end the inning. But Daly labored in the seventh, walking Dan Bucholz before getting Kyle Silver on a fly out to center, then walking Grant Berkowitz and Jesse Hart to load the bases and then going 1-0 on Andy Heterbrueg. That's when he was pulled for Kramer, who struck out Heterbrueg and got Rob Brockel on a grounder to second to leave the bases loaded and preserve UH's 4-2 lead.

"We have a couple of filthy people on this team and he's one of them," UH catcher Landon Hernandez said in reference to the kind of action the pitchers' pitches have. "His fastball runs, his curveball's sharp. He comes in, he just battles."

Kramer said his curve was effective, as was his inside fastball. He is relishing the opportunity to prove himself in tight situations.

"It's great being able to get out there, getting appearances in front of the home crowd," he said. "I'm loving it right now."

Justin Frash and Kris Sanchez each went 4 for 5 to pace UH's 14-hit attack. Frash had two doubles and an RBI and Sanchez had two RBIs. Vinnie Catricala also had two RBIs, driving in UH's first run with a fourth-inning single. Jon Hee was 3 for 5.

The Panthers (0-10) kept the game close behind starter Robert Michalkiewicz (0-3). He was victimized by two errors in UH's three-run fifth in which none of the runs was earned. He was at 88 pitches when he started the seventh, when he gave up back-to-back doubles to Hee and Frash, a walk to Brandon Haislet and an RBI single to Sanchez before being pulled for Adam Ferrell. The Rainbows added a squeeze by Catricala and an RBI single by Jorge Franco.

Michalkiewicz was charged with eight runs (five earned), 11 hits and a walk with three strikeouts in six-plus innings.

Reach Stacy Kaneshiro at skaneshiro@honoluluadvertiser.com.