HONOLULU, Oahu--UH Hilo's quest to win at least one game in two days (four tries) came up short when host Hawaii Pacific swept the Vulcans on Sunday to take four of five games in the weekend series.

That means that the Vulcans couldn't clinch the Hawaii Pod, leaving games to be played next weekend in Hilo. Times and dates for those four games will be determined soon.

After winning a pair of 5-4 games on Saturday, the Sharks added another one-run victory to the mix in Sunday's opener (4-3), before exploding for nine runs in the sixth inning of the nightcap to roll away, 11-2. In head-to-head games, the Vulcans are now 12-8 (12-11 overall) and HPU is 8-12 (8-16 on the season). 

Sunday's opener was very similar to Saturday's narrow 5-4 wins for the Sharks. HPU got solid pitching from starter Maximie Beaulieu and Stone Parker to hold the Vulcans to just four hits overall. Beaulieu allowed three hits in 5.1 innings, and Parker slammed the door shut by allowing just one hit in the final 3.2. Parker didn't walk a batter, fanned four, and retired eight batters in a row at one juncture. 

The Vulcans had an RBI-single off the bat of Bradyn Yoshida in the second inning and an RBI-double from Rustin Ho in the fifth. In the ninth, Mason Campbell singled and moved to third, but Parker fanned the final two batters of the game for the win. 

The second game was another nail-bitter, until it wasn't. 

Both teams had scoring opportunities early, but couldn't collect. Each team left the bases loaded in the first inning before HPU finally scored in the third when Noah Blythe tripled home two. UHH got one back in the fourth on Ho's RBI-hit, but the reality was that both pitchers were keeping scoring at a minimum--HPU's Zack McHone and UHH's Jacob Liberta. McHone allowed just one earned run in 5.1 innings of work, and Liberta fanned seven in five innings and gave up only five hits before running into trouble in the sixth.

And what trouble it was.

The Sharks busted the game and the series wide open with nine runs on six hits. The first two of those came off of Liberta, but then the rest of the damage came against UHH's top two relievers for the past two seasons, Brandyn Lee-Lehano and John Kea. 

When it was all said and done, 14 Shark batters came to the plate and Hawaii Pacific would have a 11-2 lead. The Vulcans would go scoreless in the top of the seventh to end the game.

Yoshida had two of UHH's six hits in the second game.

Both teams are still alive for the scheduling opportunity at Azusa Pacific, May 20-22 which will feature the winners of the three pods in the Pacific West Conference. The Cougars have clinched the SoCal Pod and will host, with Academy of Art taking the NorCal Pod.

The winner of the double-round robin format will gain the PacWest's automatic berth into the NCAA West Regional tournament.