Vulcans host conference favorite Lancers
 
Hawai`i Hilo (7-9 overall / 3-5 PWC) vs. California Baptist (13-5 overall / 6-2 PWC)
Thursday, March 8, 6 p.m., Wong Stadium
Friday, March 9, 6 p.m., Wong Stadium
Saturday, March 10 (DH), 4/7 p.m., Wong Stadium
Live Stats at hiloathletics.com,
 
Hilo Headlines: Hawai`i Hilo, coming off a split with Point Loma, will now host the Pacific West Conference pre-season favorite California Baptist in a four-game series that begins on Thursday at Wong Stadium. Last week, the Vulcans stunned the Sea Lions with victories in the first two games of the series (6-5 and 9-4), only to see Point Loma rally back for 14-4 and 6-0 victories. The Vulcans stay just two games under .500 overall and in PacWest play.
 
Hilo Reigns: The Vulcans battled the elements (rain) and the Sea Lions during the four-game slate that featured a few rain delays. UHH walked off with a win in ten innings on Thursday night (6-5), and used a five-run eighth inning to roll to a 9-4 triumph on Friday night. Saturday belonged to the Sea Lions, who won their two games with big bats (14-4) and a sizzling pitching performance by Wyatt Shackleford (6-0).
 
Welcome Back, Jonathan: Senior outfielder Jonathan Segovia had missed nine early season games with an injury, but returned for the Point Loma series with a bang—specifically a walk-off single in the bottom of the tenth inning on Thursday night. He had two hits in that game and two more in the 9-4 win, including a base knock in the five-run eighth.
 
Pitching Starts and Holds: Sophomore Dylan Spain had another impressive pitching outing, picking up a win in the Vulcans' 9-4 victory. He tossed six innings, gave up only four hits, two earned runs and fanned six. In the series, UH Hilo received solid relief work from Cole Nakachi and Drew Ichikawa. Both pitched twice in the series, with Ichikawa throwing a total of 3.1 innings and allowing no runs, two hits and he had two strikeouts. Nakachi pitched four innings in two games, allowed three hits, one run and he fanned two. Both had a "hold" in the first win and Nakachi had a hold in the second victory.
 
Lancer Lines: The Lancers are ranked No. 2 in the latest West Region poll with a 13-5 overall mark. They split games this past weekend with Hawaii Pacific, winning lopsided contests by the scores of 18-2 and 12-1, only to see the Sharks come back to even things up at 6-4 and 4-3. The Lancers have a team ERA of 2.03, and have equally ridiculous offensive numbers, with Andrew Bash leading the way with a .543 batting average and five home runs. Tommy Bell is hitting .435 and John Glenn has driven in 21 runs. California Baptist, in their final season in the PacWest before moving to NCAA Division I next year, leads the all-time series against the Vulcans 27-5, and they have won the last 13 games played between the two schools.

Home, Sweet Home: The Vulcans will play 31 home games this season. That's 21 home dates. Their first 20 games this season are at Wong Stadium, before they hit the road on March 24. After this Cal Baptist series, the Vulcans will take their first road trip of the year to Fresno Pacific (March 24, 26) and Dixie State (March 29-31).
 
By the Numbers (Offense): Kyle Yamada now paces the Vulcans in batting average with a .342 mark, followed closely by RJ Romo (.333) and Edison Sakata (.333). Phillip Steering is batting .321 with 12 RBI (Romo leads with 15 RBI). Yamada leads the team with five doubles and ten walks and Sakata leads with five stolen bases. With around half the sample size, Jonathan Segovia is hitting .407 (11-for-27).
 
By the Numbers (Pitching): Dylan Spain improved to 2-2 and lowered his ERA a hair to 3.33. Fellow starter Kyle Alcorn is 1-0 with a 3.05 ERA. Both have given up fewer hits than innings pitched, and Alcorn has fanned 21 batters in 20.2 innings, Spain 25 K's in 27 innings.
 
Around the Horn: Azusa Pacific is the conference leader with a 20-2 overall record and 10-2 mark in conference. Biola and California Baptist are next in the PacWest with 6-2 records. APU is now No. 8 in the country and No. 1 in the west region, with the Lancers at No. 2 in the west. Dixie State is No. 20 nationally but is not in the region top 10, but Hawaii Pacific (who split with Cal Baptist) is in the regional poll at No. 10.
 
The Coach: Head coach Kallen Miyataki is in his fifth full season as the leader of the Vulcan program, but his history in a UHH uniform goes much deeper than that. He had previous roles as an associate head coach, assistant coach and player for the Vulcans. He was the catcher, captain and team MVP for UH Hilo in 1983, and after a stint at UH Manoa as a grad assistant and assistant coach, he came back to Hilo for a 14-year run as an assistant (1988-2001). He was the associate head coach for three years (2004-06) before taking over the controls of the program in the fall of 2014.