HILO, Hawai`i—On another night of splits, Hawai`i Hilo won the opener of Saturday's doubleheader with Hawai`i Pacific in dramatic fashion and the Sharks won the nightcap with room to spare.

The Vulcans won the first game 4-3 in 12 innings, but Hawai`i Pacific bounced back with the victory under the lights, 11-1. With splits both days, the Vulcans are now 2-2 on the season and the Sharks move to 7-2.
The two teams will play the rubber match of the five-game series on Sunday at Wong Stadium, at 2 pm.

In a wild first game, Kyle Yamada laced a pitch into left-centerfield in the bottom of the 12^th inning to chase home Mana Manago with the winning run, sending his teammates sprinting after him in celebration at first base.

Yamada's hit ended a 4:17 game, contest number three of the five-game series. John Kea picked up the win on the mound in relief, pitching 3.2 innings without allowing a run. The Vulcan closer gave up three hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out two.

Earlier, Hawai`i Pacific took a 3-0 lead by scoring in the top of the first and adding two more runs in the second. A double, single, walk and hit batter accounted for the first run, and RBI-hits by Sean Coffey Jordan Mopas (double) led to the other two.

That lead held behind the Shark pitching of Jordan Gesling until the Vulcan fourth. In that inning, the Vulcans loaded the bases via singles by Casey Yamauchi and Kobie Russell and a walk to Jaryn Kanbara. RJ Romo drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly, and an HPU error brought in another. Another error kept the inning alive for Nick Lugo's RBI-single to tie the game at 3-3.

UH Hilo then took the lead in the sixth on Kamula Neal's double and Lugo's sacrifice fly (4-3). Meanwhile, Vulcan pitching was throwing blanks, keeping the Sharks off the board for six straight innings. Christian Sadler got the start, allowing just one earned run in the first four innings, and Brandyn Lee-Lahano threw zeros in middle relief until the ninth.

In the ninth, Micah Layosa led off the inning with a screaming liner off the left-field fence, ending Lee-Lahano's night. The junior right-hander went 4.1 innings and was charged with Layosa's run, but no others. He allowed five hits, didn't walk a batter and fanned four.

Three HPU pitchers kept UHH off the board, surviving a bases loaded rally in the tenth, and runners at second and third in the 11^th. Finaly in the 12^th, the Vulcans loaded the bases with no one out on base hits by Manago, a fielder's choice and a bunt single by pinch hitter Jaron Sugimoto—setting the stage for Yamada's winner.

Freshman Yamauchi had four hits in his third college game, while Yamada, Neal and Manago had a pair each. UH Hilo had 14 hits in the game. The Sharks also had 14 hits, four of them by Mopas and three by Layosa.

In the second game, the Sharks scored five runs in the third inning to effectively take away any drama early. The visitors bashed five hits and also took advantage of two Vulcan errors. They added another run in the fifth, and then completely closed the door on a three-run shot over the left field fence by Layosa. Five more insurance runs came across the plate in the sixth.

The Sharks had 14 hits in the game against five different UHH pitchers. Mopas had three hits and drove in four runs. Christian Kapeliela added three.

The Vulcans managed only four hits against the HPU pitching combo of Evan Spitzer and Conlan Myers. Spitzer started and gave up one run in three innings, and Myers threw four innings of nearly perfect ball, giving up just one hit on the night, fanning six to get the win.

The Vulcans scored their run in the third inning when Mikey Rita singled, moved to second on a passed ball, stole third and came home on Yamauchi's ground ball.

After this weekend's series, the Vulcans and Sharks will play four games next weekend on Oahu.