KAILUA-KONA, Hawai`i--Hawai`i Hilo mercy-ruled No. 8 nationally ranked Concordia in the first game, and then rain was the big winner in the afternoon on Friday at Kealakahe High School.

The Vulcans trounced the Eagles 8-0 in the opener behind the shutout work of Valerie Alvarado and the power of Vevesi Liilii, and then saw the second game deleted because of a hard rain storm in the top of the second. The Vulcans were leading 5-4 in a slugfest that was wiped out of the books--disappointing for sure Liilii, who had hit a grand slam in the first inning.

The game can't be made up as Concordia leaves the islands tomorrow and the Vulcans won't be playing in southern California this year. Nonetheless, UH HIlo picks up three huge wins after taking all three games in the series to improve to 6-3 in the Pacific West Conference and to 11-10 overall. Concordia is now 7-4 in conference action and 13-5 overall.

Liilii, who also homered off of Concordia ace Callie Nunes on Thursday, launched a three-run shot off the All-American in the bottom of the first inning on Friday. After the first two batters walked, Liilii made the Eagles pay with the blast that traveled deep over the left-centerfield fence, giving UHH a quick 3-0 lead.

Alvarado meanwhile used the same formula as the day before in beating the Eagles--don't walk anyone and scatter your hits. She allowed four hits in the first four innings but no runs, and her team then broke it open in the bottom half of the fourth.

Helped by three Concordia errors, the Vulcans also had RBI-hits from Kimberly Olivas and a two-run one-bagger from Chloe Domingo to chase five runs across the plate. In the mercy-rule fifth, Alvarado put the Eagles down in order to end the game. 

UH Hilo only had four hits in the game. But walks hurt the Eagles, as did Liilii's blast. Nunes left the game after two innings, having given up just one hit (the home run) and three runs, but she walked four to go with four strikeouts. She took the loss to drop to 6-2. Alvarado, now 6-4, gave up four hits in five innings, no runs, no walks (for the second straight day) and fanned one. 

The second game looked to have a totally different chapter, as the Eagles jumped all over Vulcan starter Leah Gonzales in top of the first for four runs and five hits. One of the hits was a two-run homer by Sydney Sprinkle. But the Vulcans answered in the bottom half with five runs, which included Liilii's grand slam--which now doesn't count. In theory, that was good news for Gonzales and but bad news for Liilii statistically.

The Vulcans homestand is over. They now head to northern California for a pair of four-game series at Academy of Art and Holy Names. They return home on March 23 for a non-conference doubleheader versus Montevallo (Alabama).