HONOLULU, Oahu--It wasn't exactly a carbon copy but their were certainly a lot of similarities to Hawaii Pacific's pair of 5-4 wins over UH Hilo on Saturday at Les Murakami Stadium.

The Sharks scored the winning run in the second to last inning in both games for the doubleheader sweep, dropping the Vulcans to 12-9 on the season and to 12-6 in the Pacific West Conference. HPU improved to 6-12 in the league and 6-16 overall.

The two teams will wrap up the 5-game series on Sunday with a doubleheader that starts at 11 am.

Shark pitching and timely hitting was the difference in the Saturday games. UH HIlo could only manage seven hits on the day during 16 total innings of action. 

In the first game, the Vulcans had a hard time getting offense going against the Shark combo of Cole Mayeshiro and Gavin Pringle, scratching out just five hits in the nine-inning 5-4 loss.

The Vulcans didn't get their first hit against Mayeshiro until the fifth inning when HPU already had a 2-0 lead against UHH starter Christian Sadler. But the Vulcans tied the game when Mayeshiro suddenly had control issues, walking one and hitting two batters.. An error would bring home UHH's first run, and a base hit later by Casey Yamauchi (UHH's first of the game) brought home the tying run. (2-2). 

The Sharks would get both runs back in the bottom of the fifth, chasing Sadler. HPU also loaded the bases in the sixth but didn't score. 

UHH finally got the bats going in the seventh. Gaven Palagonia singled and stole a base, and  Brandyn Yoshida brought him home with a double, sending Mayeshiro to the dugout. Trey Yukumoto brought up another run with a bunt single to tie it at 4-4.

But the Sharks put the go-ahead run across the plate in the eighth. Richard Higa doubled and would score via a passed ball and a wild pitch. That would turn out to be the winning run, as UHH would get a runner on in the top of the ninth with Rustin Ho's single, but a doubleplay would end the threat and the game.

Nobody had more than one hit for the Vulcans, who had just five total. Mayeshiro pitched six innings, giving up three hits. Pringle pitched three innings of relief, allowing just two hits and no runs to gain the win (2-1). Brandyn Lee-Lehano took the loss in relief despite not giving up an earned run (3-1).

In the second game, the Sharks used five different pitchers that only allowed two Vulcan hits. Dragmire, who got the win in the first game, pitched the final 1-2-3 inning in the nightcap to get the save.

One of UHH's two hits came off the bat of Yamauchi in the fourth when he hit a two-run triple. Two walks had set the table for the shortstop. The Vulcans also scored an unearned run in the first and added one more in the sixth on three walks and a wild pitch to take a 4-2 lead.

But the Sharks rallied for the second time in the day with three runs in the bottom of the sixth. Joe Gallagher doubled and then switched places with DJ Stephens who also hit a two-bagger. A walk, hit batter and a Noah Blythe double, along with a fielder's choice rang home three runs off of Vulcan closer John Kea. Dragmire then finished the day with a three up, three down top of the seventh.

Blythe had three hits in the game, including a pair of doubles. 

Aaron Davies was the Vulcan starter and went five innings, allowing five hits and three earned runs.