LA MIRADA, Calif.—It was the kind of game that the 2019 Hawai`i Hilo Vulcan baseball team had learned to win during this incredible season, but today they were reminded of just how cruel the game of baseball can be sometimes during a 9-8 loss to Biola.
The Vulcans were just one out away, and literally one pitch removed from a comeback victory when Connor Kostecka's two-run double one-hopped the fence in left centerfield to send two runs home and give the host Eagles the walk-off win.
It was the second straight loss for the Vulcans to the Eagles, who saw their faint post-season hopes dim in the southern California air. They are now 25-18 on the year, while Biola improved to 28-18.
The two teams will wrap up the regular season on Friday with a noon doubleheader.
The Vulcans spotted the Eagles a 7-3 lead, rallied back to take an 8-7 margin in the eighth, only to see Kostecka break their hearts with a two-strike, two-out hit that split the gap in left-center and sent the Eagles rushing to home plate to celebrate.
As stunning as the ending was, the game also began on a surprising note when the Eagles roughed up Vulcan starter and the reigning PacWest Pitcher of the Week,
Dylan Spain. Biola scored four times in the first inning on five hits, added two more on in the third on a RJ Bates home run and Jerron Largusa hit a two-run shot in the fourth to send Spain out of the game.
The Vulcans had scored three times in the third, in part thanks to
Dylan Sugimoto's two-run blast, but still trailed 7-3.
UHH relievers
Jordan Tagawa,
Devan Elson and
Brandyn Lee-Lehano kept the Eagles off the board from there, and the Vulcan offense began to make their own moves. A two-out rally brought home a run in the sixth with singles from
Kobie Russell,
Kamalu Neal and
Jaryn Kanbara, and the Vulcans plated two more runs in the seventh on
RJ Romo's two-run double to make it 7-6.
The visitors continued their run in the eighth when Kanbara hit his second home run of the series to tie the game, and
Nick Lugo followed with an opposite field shot to give UH Hilo the lead, 8-7.
With one out in the eighth, head coach Kal Miyataki handed the ball to closer
John Kea who worked a fly out, single and strike out, and he then proceeded to fan the first two Eagles that he faced in the ninth.
But a walk kept the inning alive for Biola, and a line drive single off UHH first baseman Romo by Joey Magro set the stage for Kostecka. With a 1-2 count, after fouling two more pitches off, Kostecka lined his shot to left and with both Eagles running on the pitch, they scored easily.
Kanbara, Lugo and Sugimoto had two hits each for the 10-hit Vulcans, while Romo, Sugimoto and Kanbara had a pair of RBI each. Kea took the loss to fall to 1-3 on the year.
The hot-hitting Eagles had 15 hits in the game, three each by Magro and Kostecka.
