WAIPAHU, Hawai`i--The UH HIlo baseball teams' oh-so-close Oahu weekend continued in the same direction on Sunday with a pair of close losses to host Hawai`i Pacific, 8-7 and 4-2.
The Vulcans, who lost to the University of Hawai`i on Friday and Saturday by one and two runs, also dropped a pair to the Sharks by one and two runs to move to 2-4 on the season. HPU, who had opened their year the weekend previous with a pair of losses in Hilo to the Vulcans, are now 2-2. Both of Sunday's games were non-conference contests.
Hawai`i Pacific's Jared Bannister had a two-run triple in the eighth inning of the first game to push the Sharks over the top, and two pitchers combined to hold the Vulcans to just four hits in the second game to pave the way to victory for the home team.
The clubs matched each other in the first game, almost literally, through the first half of the contest. After thee scoreless innings, the Vulcans scored three times with two outs in the top of the fourth when
John Bicos brought home
Jaryn Kanbara and
Lawson Faria with a three-run homer. Kanbara had doubled and Faria had singled, giving UHH a 3-0 lead.
But the Sharks copied with the same, using a two-out home run by Joseph Gallagher in the bottom half to tie it at 3-3. UH Hilo would add two more in the top of the fifth after hits by
Lucas Sakay and
Casey Yamauchi, followed by a sacrifice bunt, a passed ball and a fielder's choice to make it 5-3. HPU answered again with two of thier own in the bottom half courtesy of a two-run shot by Diego Harris to tie it at 5-5.
Both teams would score a single run in the seventh (6-6), and only after that did the game switch up a bit. Three HPU relievers combined to hold the Vulcans to one hit the rest of the way and the home team would then take the permanent lead on Bannister's two-run triple.
Yamauchi, Faria, Bicos and Sakay all had two hits each for UHH, accounting for eight of their teams' 11 hits.
In the second game, the Sharks built a 4-1 lead through five innings. The Vulcans got one digit back in the sixth on Kanbara's RBI-single, but the Shark pitching combo of Sean Adams and Zack McHone combined to hold UHH to four hits and just one earned run in the game. Kanbara had two of those four hits, giving him four base knocks on the day.
The Vulcans return home and will host their Alumni on Saturday at Wong Stadium. Start time is 1 pm.
