Northwood's baseball team used one big inning and some solid pitching by junior Kevin Okuda to defeat Irvine, 3-2, in the Pacific Coast League opener Friday at Irvine.

Northwood, the defending league champion, scored three runs in the third inning in support of Okuda, who went the distance.
Okuda (2-0) scattered seven hits and struck out three, but he was challenged. “That's the toughest game he's thrown in a very long time,” Northwood coach Rob Stuart said of Okuda. “Nothing was easy. They made him look just OK, and still he gives up (only) two runs.”

Okuda, the league MVP last season, worked out of trouble in the first, third and fifth innings. In the bottom of the seventh, Irvine's Nicholas Brophy tried to stretch a two-out single into a double but was thrown out on a perfect throw from right fielder Taylor Cleary to shortstop Max Gleit, covering at second base, to end the game. “You practice the right things and sometimes it pays off,” Stuart said.

Northwood moved ahead in the third inning. Brandon Kim led off with a double and went to third on a single by Okuda. Matt Locklear followed with an RBI double to drive in the first run. Chandler Gaspar followed with a sacrifice fly to drive in the second run. Josh Lopez then singled to drive in the third run. The Timberwolves (5-1, 1-0) loaded the bases with one out, but starter Nick Abrahams (2-2) retired the last two hitters to end the inning.

The Vaqueros (4-3-1, 0-1) rallied with two runs in the fourth inning. Julian Kubisty drove home Michael Fiege with his second double of the game. With two outs, Mark Chaikovsky singled in a run to cut the lead to 3-2. Chaikovsky eventually reached third base, but Okuda worked out of trouble.

Okuda was able to blank the Vaqueros the rest of the way.

Irvine, which out-hit Northwood, 7-6, got a strong pitching performance in relief from Tyler Hilleboe, who shut out Northwood in the final four innings. He struck out seven and allowed just one hit.