Vulcans hit road to face Sunbirds, Trailblazers
 
Hawai`i Hilo (9-11 overall/5-7 PWC) @ Fresno Pacific (9-9 overall/6-6 PWC)
Saturday, March 24 (DH, 11 am), Monday, March 26 (DH, 2 pm), Fresno, Calif.
Hawai`i Hilo @ Dixie State (9-17 overall/5-11 PWC)
Thursday-Friday-Saturday (March 29-31), St. George, Utah (6 pm, 6 pm, noon DH)
Live Stats at hiloathletics.com,
 
Hilo Headlines: The Vulcans, who split four games with nationally ranked California Baptist last weekend, hits the road after 20 straight games at home. UH Hilo will take on Fresno Pacific and Dixie State before returning home on April 9 to take on No. 1 nationally ranked Azusa Pacific.
 
When Splitting is a Good Thing: The Vulcans have not split their last two series with two of the top teams in the PacWest—Point Loma and California Baptist. Prior to the PLNU series, the Vulcans nearly grabbed two against Biola, losing a 2-1 contest in game three. The Vulcans have now played three of the top four teams in the PacWest, and won't play them again this season. The one that they haven't played yet? No. 1 Azusa Pacific.
 
Finishing on a Strong Note: In splitting with No. 20 nationally ranked California Baptist, UH Hilo snapped a 13-game losing streak against the Lancers, and won what may be the final game played between the two schools. CBU leaves the PacWest and Division II next year for Division I and the Western Athletic Conference.
 
Running to Victory: In both victories versus CBU, the Vulcans sprinted home with the winning run. In the 2-1 Friday victory, Phillip Steering raced home in the bottom of the ninth on a wild pitch. In Saturday's nightcap (seven innings), Edison Sakata zoomed home on an overthrow in the eighth inning to end the game.
 
Freshman Phenoms: Two UH Hilo rookie hurlers had two of the best games thrown against California Baptist all season long. Left-hander Kyle Alcorn went six innings in the 2-1 win over the Lancers, allowing only four hits, no earned runs, one walk and he fanned five. He was named the PacWest Freshman of the Week for his work. On Saturday, righthander Travis Burleson also tossed six innings, allowing only two hits, no runs, one walk and he fanned five. Burleson was named the UH Hilo Pepsi Athlete of the Week for his efforts.
 
Right Place, Right Time: Red-shirt freshman closer John Kea picked up the win in both of those games, that ended as no decisions for Alcorn and Burleson. Kea pitched a perfect two innings in Saturday's walk-off win (with two strikeouts), and he pitched just a third of an inning in the 2-1 win when the Vulcans scored the winning tally in the bottom of the inning. The two victories helped Kea improve to 3-1 on the season and he also has two saves.
 
Sunbird Sentences: Fresno Pacific is an even .500 in both conference play and overall. The Sunbirds are coming off a split with Biola, and they are one of only two teams in the country to snatch a win from No. 1 Azusa Pacific (3-2 in extra innings). Hunter Villanueva leads FPU in batting average (.329) and home runs (7), while Alex Garcia has been the hottest arm on the mound, allowing just two earned runs over his last three starts. The Vulcans and Sunbirds split four games last year in Hilo, but FPU leads the all-time series, 14-6.
 
Trailblazer Tails: Dixie State was picked to finish third in the PacWest pre-season poll, but have a struggled a bit early with a 9-17 overall record and a 5-11 conference mark. They may have been a victim of a tough schedule, having dropped four games to then-No. 3 nationally ranked Colorado Mesa, along with three of four to No. 1 Azusa Pacific. But they got back on track by winning three of four from Holy Names last weekend, going into a series this coming weekend versus Hawaii Pacific. Jake Engel (.345) and Logan Porter (.341) lead the Trailblazer offense, while Jayden Murray (2-3, 3.23 ERA) has been Dixie's most effect pitcher. Dixie State won all four games played between the two squads last year in Hilo, and in fact the Trailblazers have won the last 16 games played in the series and lead all-time, 44-13.
 
By the Numbers (Offense): The Vulcan offensive numbers took a little bit of a hit against outstanding Lancer pitching. UH Hilo scored a total of just six runs in the four games. Phillip Steering leads the team with a .324 batting average, has 12 RBI and is tied for the team lead in doubles with five. Kyle Yamada is next at .315 with five doubles, with Edison Sakata (.295) and RJ Romo (.294) are just under .300. Sakata paces the team in runs scored with 15 and Romo leads the club in RBI with 15. Having played in 11 of UHH's 20 games, Jonathan Segovia is hitting .390.
 
By the Numbers (Pitching): Starter Kyle Alcorn is 1-0 with a 2.36 ERA, having given up only 20 hits in 26.2 innings of work. He has also struck out 26 batters and opponents are hitting just .200 against him. Dylan Spain is 2-3 with a 3.71 ERA, allowing 29 hits in 34 innings with 28 K's and a .228 opponent average. Travis Burleson is 1-3 with a 4.39 ERA, but might have even better IP/H/K numbers at 26.2/21/28.
 
Around the Horn: Azusa Pacific is still ranked No. 1 in the latest national poll (24-2) and they also lead the PacWest (14-2). California Baptist is tied for second in the conference (8-4) and is No. 20 nationally (15-7). Biola is alongside the Lancers at 8-4 in the PWC and they are 16-6 overall. In the unofficial region poll, APU is No. 1, CBU is tied for third, Point Loma is No. 9 and Hawai`i Pacific is tenth.
 
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.