Punahou pitcher Andrew Matsueda high fives a teammate. Matsueda recorded a save to help the Buffanblu improve to 3-0 in the ILH. Greg Yamamoto | SL

Purchase image 1 of 1

Pitching, defense and some timely hitting are usually key components to winning a baseball game and that proved true once again Saturday morning.

Punahou used three pitchers, did not commit an error and batted around in the fourth inning on its way to a 4-2 win over host Iolani in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu game beneath a blistering hot sun at the Raiders' field.

The Buffanblu improved to 3-0 and sit atop the ILH Division I standings. The Raiders fell to 1-1.

"It feels good, but Mid-Pac beat Saint Louis (Friday) night and in the ILH everybody beats up on everybody, so we try to just go into each game thinking we're oh-and-oh, but it's a nice start for the guys," Punahou coach Keenan Sue said. "What we need to do is use that to keep us working harder and if we can do that, I'm pretty confident we'll play well."

Punahou did all of its damage at the plate in the top of the fourth, when it sent nine batters to the plate and scored four runs on three hits. It was aided by a pair of Iolani errors in the inning.

Clean-up hitter Andrew Matsueda drew a four-pitch leadoff walk to open the frame. Kyson Donahue's double put both runners in scoring position before Matsueda came home on Asa Kurasaki's RBI single to left field.

"It was a four-pitch walk before me so I was just trying to find my pitch," Donahue said. "I wasn't being too picky, just trying to find something to drive and I got that pitch and I drove it."

Donahue, who took the first two pitches of the at bat for balls, said Yee threw him a change-up, low and in on a 2-1 count that the lefty pulled into right field.

"That was my first pull, I think, in a long time," Donahue said. "This whole season I don't think I ever pulled the ball yet. Everything was up the middle, or opposite field."

Sue said he was pleased to see Donahue take the Yee offering to right field.

"He made a swing adjustment a couple of weeks ago and that really helped him, so he's really comfortable right now, but he's been seeing it well," Sue said. "It was nice to see him pull the ball today, but he's been hitting to all fields. I think he's probably our hottest hitter right now."

Donahue moved over to third on Kurasaki's single and was allowed to score when Iolani starting pitcher Logan Yee was called for a balk.

Matt Nakamoto's sacrifice bunt brought Kurasaki across for Punahou's third run of the inning and Noah Loughlin added another when he scored on throwing error by Raiders' third baseman Micah Yonamine.

"In any game, it's just about pitching and defense. We took advantage of the big inning and that was the difference," Sue said. "We talked to the guys about just trying to go station-to-station and just getting one at a time and when you do that, you usually have a big inning. When you try to do too much, then we usually roll over the ball and it ends up being a pretty quick inning. That's our approach, is gap-to-gap and try to get a base hit."

Kurasaki, the Buffanblu third baseman, turned in a gem of a defensive play to get his team out of a jam in the top of the fifth, when the Raiders plated a pair of runs — on RBI singles by Shaydon Kubo and Shane Sasaki — and had runners at the corners with two outs.

Kurasaki made a diving stop in front of his shortstop to rob Iolani's Matthew Inaba of at least one RBI before throwing to first to complete the inning-ending play.

"Asa made a heck of a play," Iolani coach Kurt Miyahira said.

"And that's why he's there," Sue said. "We play the guys who play defense and then we take what we take at the plate."

Donahue got the final out of the inning after moving from shortstop to the mound in relief of starter Kyle Uemura. Donahue, who had not pitched in a varsity game before, allowed three hits and struck out two in 1 1/3 scoreless innings pitched.

"This is the first year they're calling on me to pitch and it was definitely nerve-racking being my varsity debut as a pitcher, but my teammates had my back," Donahue said. "I knew they had my back, so I just threw strikes, had them make plays — like Asa with the diving play. That was clutch."

Uemura, a junior right-hander, allowed two runs on two hits in 4 2/3 innings. He walked two, struck out three and threw just 73 pitches.

"He did great today. He doesn't do anything flashy, but he just throws strikes and when he's throwing well he keeps the ball down in the zone," Sue said of Uemura, who was making his first outing of the season. "For a junior to come in in his first year on the varsity, I was really pleased. He showed a lot of poise and he's worked really hard."

Andrew Matsueda tossed a scoreless seventh inning to pick up the save.

Yee was charged with the loss after allowing four runs on five hits in four innings of work. He walked two and struck out one and threw 67 pitches.

Jonah Miyazawa threw the final three innings for the Raiders.