Hilo, Hawaii – A plan to give the pitching staff some mound time and not to over use them worked to near perfection as the University of Hawaii at Hilo saw five pitchers lead the Vulcans to a 12-6 win over Patten University.
Tyler Safford, Jeffrey Germain, Nathan Kekahuna, Jr. and
Dustin Gilmore were scheduled to pitch two innings apiece while
Joe Davis got the final inning.
Safford gave up two runs on four hits but struck out three. Germain gave up a run on two hits with a walk and a strikeout. Kekahuna gave up a pair of runs on four hits while striking out two and walking one. Gilmore gave up one run on two hits and a walk. Davis gave up just a hit and struck out one.
"Because of the amount of games we've played over the course of time, we didn't have a whole lot of other options,"
UHH head coach Joey Estrella said. "We needed to set up that rotation on Saturday. Get some key people some key innings."
The Vulcans (7-7) are in the middle of a 10-day, 11-game stretch that have them facing 9th-ranked University of San Diego starting on Saturday in a three-day series.
At the plate,
A.J. Satele continued his torrid pace at the plate. His two-run double capped an eight-run, fifth-inning spurt that took advantage of five Lion (2-19) walks and a pair of wild pitches that change a close 4-3 lead into a 12-3 mountain for the Lions to climb. The Vulcans tallied just three of their 12 team hits in that inning.
Satele and
Dayne Ogawa led the Vulcans with three hits apiece while
T.J. Brown and
Christian Stephenson added two hits each.
DeJaun Johnson led the Lions with three hits.