Hawai'i left-hander Mark Rodrigues had just struck out his first batter of the game in the second inning, so it seemed odd that coach Mike Trapasso went to visit his pitcher. As it turned out, Trapasso's little advice went a long way.

Rodrigues faced only one batter over the minimum, using 87 pitches for his first career complete game as Hawai'i beat UC Santa Barbara, 5-1, yesterday at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium in Santa Barbara, Calif., to even the series at 1.

Kris Sanchez extended his hitting streak to 15 games dating to last season with a go-ahead two-run triple that sparked a three-run sixth for UH (8-3), which will try to win its fourth consecutive series today at 10 a.m., HST. Hawai'i will send Josh Schneider (0-0) to the mound to oppose Mike Ford (0-0) in a matchup of right-handers.

Rodrigues (4-0) scattered three hits, walked none and struck out four in UH's first complete game of the season. It was his longest outing since he went seven innings and used 102 pitches May 27 in an 11-2 win against Nevada in the Western Athletic Conference tournament.

"Coach Trap came out in the second inning and said I wasn't being efficient with my mechanics," Rodrigues explained. "He said to just let it loose. My windup, my motion was too slow. He told me to let it fly."

"That's about as good a pitched game you'll see from Mark," Trapasso said. "Complete game in 87 pitches, that's a pretty good game. He had a great tempo going. He sped up his tempo after the second inning. It just made him more aggressive. He was able to get ahead with the fastball and he had a great changeup working today."

The only run he allowed was a fifth-inning lead-off home run by Mike Zuanich that gave the Gauchos a 1-0 lead. Zuanich also had second-inning single, but was caught stealing to end the inning. Robbie Blauer had a lead-off single in the seventh, only to be erased when Mario Lewis grounded into a double play.

The Gauchos (2-2) went down in order the other six innings. Rodrigues, whose longest outing this season was 5 1/3 innings, said he felt strong the whole game.

"I wasn't thinking complete game," he said. "But in the seventh inning my arm felt good and my mind was set to finish the game off."

He was able to spot his pitches and make the batters put the ball in play. He got 14 outs on grounders.

"The defense did a good job, making double plays and making catches," Rodrigues said. "Give credit to them, too."

The Rainbows collected 10 hits. Brandon Haislet, who sat Friday because of back problems from Tuesday's practice, started at designated hitter and went 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI single. Eli Christensen was 2 for 3. But it was Sanchez's triple that ignited the Rainbows.

"It was good for us that Sanch was able to break us out of our funk and get us on the board," Trapasso said.

While Trapasso was pleased with the improved hitting from Friday, when UH was held to three hits, there were some concerns. Three times the Rainbows put runners on first and second with no outs, but could only score once. In the second and third innings, they failed on sacrifice attempts. In the eighth, they managed just one run — on a wild pitch.

"We're still not there," Trapasso said. "Today, no problem with our effort (and) our intensity. We were getting hits, but we weren't able to finish the innings off. (There were) too many innings where we shot ourselves in the foot."

Gauchos' starter Jeff Braun (0-1) went five-plus innings, giving up two runs (both unearned), two hits and four walks with three strikeouts.

Third baseman Patrick Rose's throwing error in the sixth prolonged the inning for Sanchez's two-run triple that accounted for the unearned runs.