HILO, Hawai`i—Down to their last out and trailing 4-1, UH Hilo rallied in the bottom of the ninth for an improbable 5-4 victory over Fresno Pacific in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday night at Wong Stadium.
The Sunbirds salvaged the second game of the twinbill and the four-game series, 8-2, after the Vulcans had won the first three games. UH Hilo is now 7-10 overall and 5-5 in Pacific West Conference play. Fresno Pacific heads back to California at 6-12 on the year and 3-5 in conference action.
In the opener, the Vulcans trailed 4-1 in the ninth, after FPU's Justin Fuson had pitched gamely through eight innings. He had been touched for just one run and allowed only five hits.
He struck out the first Vulcan in the ninth, but then gave up a single to pinch-hitter
Rustin Ho and walked
Nick Lugo. Carson Schellenberg came out of the bullpen to try and close things out, and induced a fly ball out of the first Vulcan he faced.
But UHH's
Dylan Sugimoto kept the game alive and loaded the bases with a single to left, bringing up Vulcan lead-off batter
Kyle Yamada. The senior centerfielder lined a shot to right field, that took a wicked hop and got by Dylan Lewis and rolled to the fence—sending all three runners and Yamada scampering for home. Yamada slid in with the winning run, sending the stunned Sunbirds back to the dugout and the Vulcans running onto the field in celebration.
The loss went to Schellenberg, and the win went to the gritty
Travis Burleson, who pitched a complete game. In nine innings, he allowed six hits, four runs, walked three and fanned four—and was in line to take the loss until the wild ninth. Instead, he got the win, improving to 2-1 on the season.
RJ Romo had two hits in the game for the Vulcans, who had nine base knocks overall.
The second game was all Sunbirds in the early going. They put four runs on the scoreboard before the Vulcans could even come to bat. They pieced together four singles, a walk, a hit batter and a stolen base to get the early edge in the first inning. They added a run in the second inning and another in the third to make it 6-0.
Senior Alex Garcia was on the hill for the visitors and didn't allow a Vulcan to cross the plate until the fourth inning when singles by Kamula Neal, Ho and Yamada contributed to a pair of runs to cut the lead to 6-2.
But Garcia got back on track in the fifth and sixth, allowing just one hit during that stretch, and then got more help from his offense with a run in the sixth, and another in the seventh on Ross Dodd's home run.
The 5-foot-9, 155-pound right-hander, gave up one single in the seventh and final inning to finish with a complete game effort. He allowed just six hits in seven innings, gave up two earned runs, three walks and struck out four.
UHH's
Jacob Morales took the loss in his first start of the year (0-1), while Garcia got the win, his first (1-0). Ho had two hits to lead the Vulcan offense, while the Sunbirds were paced by Adam Aleman's three base knocks. FPU had 15 hits in the game against four UH Hilo pitchers.
The Vulcans now hit the road for conference series with Concordia (March 16 and 18) and Azusa Pacific (March 21-23). Additionally, they will play a non-conference exhibition game with Hope International on March 14.
