Vulcans return home to host Academy of Art
 
Hawai`i Hilo (10-15 overall/8-10 PWC) vs. Academy of Art (12-10 overall/4-7 PWC) 
Thursday/Friday (March 28-29) 6 pm/Saturday (March 30) DH at 3 pm, Wong Stadium
Live Stats at hiloathletics.com.
 
Hilo Headlines: After eight games on the road, the Vulcans return home to take on Academy of Art in a four-game slate at Wong Stadium. In southern California, UH Hilo took three of four games from Concordia but lost four straight to conference-leading Azusa Pacific.

Three for the Road: After the dropping the first game of the series at Concordia, the Vulcans won the next three in a row. Not only did that give them a three-game win streak, it was the first time that UH Hilo had won a series on the road in SoCal since the "new" Pacific West Conference was formed in the early 2010's. The Vulcans swept a series in Oakland last year at Holy Names, their first such results in the PacWest

And the Bad News: It didn't take long for that high to end. At Azusa, the now-No. 13 nationally ranked Cougars wore out Vulcan pitching in the first three games to the tune of 17-2, 22-0 and 10-2 verdicts. The final game of the series was a pitching duel, with APU scoring two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning (seven inning contest) to take a 3-1 win.

Hitting Headlines: Kyle Yamada had a hit in every game of the road trip, raising his average from .333 to .361. He was 8-for-19 in the Concordia series. The senior outfielders leads the Vulcans in runs scored with 17, doubles with five and RBI with 18…Mana Manago couldn't not get a hit almost versus Concordia, going 11-for-17. He was 5-for-6 in one game with three RBI…Kamalu Neal has raised his average to .314…Casey Yamauchi is batting .303 and is 9-for-10 in stolen bases…The Vulcans have six players in double figure numbers in RBI—Yamada (18), Yamauchi, Kobie Russell, RJ Romo (11) and Dylan Sugimoto, Jaryn Kanbara and Manago (10).

Pitching Progress: Vulcan pitching numbers took a huge hit against Azusa Pacific (team ERA is now 7.23), but Dylan Spain and John Kea pitched well in the final game of the series. Spain returned after missing nearly a month with an injury and was on a 30-pitch count and struck out three batters in 1.1 innings. Kea had five K's in 4.2 inning against a very good hitting team.
 
Knight Moves: Academy of Art comes to Hilo after dropping three of four games at Hawai`i Pacific. Thomas Delgadillo leads the hitters with a .436 average and starting pitcher Mason Verhees sports a 3-0 record and 1.96 ERA. Last year, the Urban Knights won three of four games versus the Vulcans in northern California.
 
Around the Horn: The Vulcans sit in sixth place of nine teams in conference play at 9-10. Azusa Pacific is 10-2, Point Loma 7-4, and Concordia is 7-5 to round out the top three.
 
Regional Round Up: Perennial World Series participant UC San Diego ranks first in the NCBWA West Region poll, and the rest of the field looks like this, with records listed through last weekend. (1) UC San Diego 17-4, (2) Azusa Pacific 20-9, (3) Point Loma 19-10, (4) San Francisco State 14-3-1, (5) Stanislaus State 17-11, (6) Chico State 14-8, (7) Cal State Monterey Bay 17-13, (8) Western Oregon 12-6, (9) Biola 15-9, (10) Montana State Billings 11-13.
 
Last Year: The Vulcans finished 21-27, their best mark in seven years. They went 16-22 in the PacWest, and split four games with NCAA playoff teams Point Loma and California Baptist, and lost two-run and one-run games to then No. 1 Azusa Pacific. They graduated single-season (10) and all-time (16) home run leader Phillip Steering and also said goodbye to leading hitter, Jonathan Segovia (.372).
 
What's Next: The Vulcans head back to Oahu for the second time this season to take on Hawaii Pacific, April 5-7.
 
The Coach: Head coach Kallen Miyataki is in his sixth 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.