The baseball units at Hawai`i Hilo and Hawai`i Pacific will square off again this coming weekend, this time with a much better chance of completing some games. And by 'some', that means hopefully six.

Thanks to their hospitality and the fact that the University of Hawai`i is on the road, Les Murakami Stadium will be the home for the Vulcans and Sharks, beginning Friday (April 9) at 4 pm. With the weather forecast favorable and the advantage of a turf field. the two teams should be able to mostly avoid the problems of wet fields, wet weather and just a place to play period that have haunted them for weeks.

To begin with, the Friday 4 pm game will be a continuation of last Saturday's game two doubleheader that was played in Hilo. The first game of the doubleheader went to the Vulcans, 8-1, but the nighcap was rained out with HPU leading 6-1 in the second inning. The game will resume from that point, followed by another game upon the completion of that one. 

On Saturday and Sunday, doubleheaders are scheduled to start at 11 am each day. Expect most every member of the pitching staffs on both teams to see work, and happily so.

"We are grateful for this opportunity," said UHH head coach Kallen Miyataki. "It has been a lot of work to get our field ready, to COVID test and then also be ready to go regarding baseball. It will be nice to eliminate one of those variables."

Miyataki and staff will have to return to that first chore in a week in a half, when they return to George and Marion Hall Stadium on the UHH campus to host the Sharks for four games, April 17-18. Then in another scheduling update, they will return to Murakami Stadium to play HPU, April 30-May 2. More games may be added the following weekend.

The Vulcans are 4-4 on the season and 4-1 against the Sharks in 2021. Hawai`i Pacific is 1-8 overall and 1-4 in the Pacific West Conference.

No spectators will be allowed in Murakami Stadium, but you can follow the action via video stream at hpusharks.com.