HONOLULU, Oahu--A wild and crazy first game and an impressive first collegiate start by a Vulcan pitcher in the second helped lead UH Hilo to a doubleheader sweep of Hawaii Pacific on Saturday at Les Murakami Stadiuum. 

The Vulcans won the opener 12-7 and the nightcap 7-5 to improve to 7-5 overall and to 7-2 in the Pacific West Conference. The Sharks are now 2-11 on the season and 2-7 in league play.

The two teams will play games five and six of the series on Sunday at Murakami Stadium, with first pitch set for 11 am.

In a wild and crazy first game, the Vulcans scored five runs in the ninth inning without a hit to break a 7-7 tie and go on to win, 12-7.

UHH trailed 6-3 before scoring four runs in the seventh to take a 7-6 lead. Three straight singles by Gaven Palagonia, Bradyn Yoshida and Trey Yukumoto set the table for Casey Yamauchi's two-run single. Kobie Russell followed with his own two-RBI base knock to put his team in front. HPU would then get a run back in the bottom of the eighth to tie the contest again at 7-7.

In the top of the ninth, things came completely unraveled on the pitching mound for the Sharks. Six straight walks, an error and a balk led to five UHH runs. The Vulcans would cross the plate five times to take a 12-7 lead without the benefit of a hit. John Kea got through the ninth allowing just a walk for the UHH victory.

Brandyn Lee-Lehano pitched 2.2 innings to get the win. He allowed two hits, one run, and struck out three (1-0). The Vulcans had nine hits in the game, none of them for extra bases. Yamauchi, Russell and Palagonia had two each, with Russell driving in three runs and Yamauchi two. Russell also walked twice. Noah Blythe had four hits for HPU, Micah Layosa had three.

In the second game, second-year freshman Christian DeJesus made his first collegiate start and gained his first win. He was very sharp through the first five innings, allowing only three hits and one run before running into trouble in the sixth. 

The Vulcans gave him enough run support to feel comfortable. Palagonia doubled home a run in the third inning, and Yamauchi single home two more in the fifth to give the Vulcans a 3-1 lead. UHH then seemingly broke the game open in the sixth on Rustin Ho's two-plate crossing single and Yukomoto's RBI base slice to make it 7-1.

But the Sharks finally got to DeJesus in the bottom half of the inning. A Diego Harris home run started the rally for HPU and two more hits and a hit batter finally chased DeJesus from the game. Kea entered the contest, but was greeted with a base hit and a run scored to make it 7-5. After a walk extended the inning, Kea got the next two batters to ground out and fly out. DeJesus' final line included six hits, five runs and seven strikeouts.

Kea stayed on to get the final three outs of the game in the seventh to earn the save, his second of the season. 

The Vulcans had just five hits in the game but their defense was flawless in the field in both games, playing without an error.

UH Hilo is expected to start Cameron Scudder (2.61 ERA) on the hill in the fifth game of the series on Sunday, but the second game (sixth of the series) is to be determined.