On Hawai'i's first game of a nine-game road trip, its woes continued.

Jose Ramirez and Jeff Roth combined on a four-hitter to lead Sacramento State over Hawai'i, 4-2, yesterday in the opener of a four-game Western Athletic Conference series at Hornet Field in Sacramento, Calif.

Gabe Jacobo's RBI double in the bottom of the eighth with one out snapped a 2-all game and sent the Rainbows (9-16 overall, 2-3 WAC) to their third consecutive loss. The Hornets (7-14, 2-3) broke the tie after the Rainbows tied the game in the top of the seventh on a two-run single by Kevin Macdonald, who had half of his team's hits with a 2-for-2 performance.

"You're not going to win many games on four hits," UH coach Mike Trapasso said.

Ramirez allowed two runs on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings. Roth (1-1) added 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing only a walk to Brandon Haislet, only to pick him off to end the eighth inning.

Meanwhile, Jared Alexander (3-3) deserved a better fate, giving up four runs (three earned), six hits and three walks (two intentional) with four strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings. Matt Daly gave up the RBI double, but retired the next two batters.

The Hornets broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth when Jeff Hannah led off with a home run to right off Alexander. They made it 2-0 in the sixth. Ryan Blair singled with one out, stole second and took third on David Flores' single to left. Flores took second on a wild pitch, as Blair held at third. With the count 1-0, UH intentionally walked Jacobo to load the bases to set up force plays all around. Tim Wheeler hit a soft grounder to third, where third baseman Vinnie Catricala's only play was to first, allowing Blair to score to make it 2-0.

The Rainbows finally got to Ramirez in the seventh. Haislet led off with a single and one out later stole second before Jeff Van Doornum and Evan Zimny walked to load the bases. But Landon Hernandez swung at the first pitch and flied out to shallow right, as the runners held.

"He swung at a ball that was up in the zone and popped it up, which wasn't a good decision on his part," Trapasso said. "If he had something he could drive, that's one thing, but he was trying to be aggressive and got out front."

But Macdonald, who entered the game hitting .157, lined a single to left to drive in two to tie the game at 2.

Roth came in for Ramirez to retire Nate Young on a grounder to end the inning.

The Hornets regained the lead in the eighth. Alexander started the inning by walking Hunter Martinez, who took second on Blair's sacrifice. Then came the dilemma of facing Flores or Jacobo, the Hornets' top two hitters entering the game with .365 and .359 batting averages, respectively.

The Rainbows elected to intentionally walk Flores, then pulled Alexander for the hard-throwing Daly. Jacobo ripped Daly's 0-1 pitch to center for a double that scored Martinez, as Flores stopped at third. But shortstop Young had trouble handling the relay, allowing Flores to score to make it 4-2.

"Those are their two best hitters," Trapasso said. "What we wanted to do was set up a double play and work with one of the hitters, but Daly made a terrible pitch. The ball was up in the guy's eyes and all he had to do was stick the bat out there. It was just a bad pitch."

Daly retired the next two batters, but the damage was done. Roth retired UH in order in the ninth to end the game.

The series resumes with a doubleheader today starting at 8 a.m., HST. The Rainbows have split one doubleheader and were swept in three others this season; they also lost two games in one day to different teams in the Arizona State tournament.

"We need to find a way to believe again and get out there and win the next three and still salvage the series," Trapasso said.