HILO, Hawai`i--After a slow start the UH Hilo softball team showed little mercy on visiting Hawai`i Pacific, topping the Sharks twice in mercy rule fashion Thursday afternoon.

The Vulcans won the first game 11-3 in five innings at Walter Victor Complex, and took the nightcap 10-2 in six innings. With the victories, the No. 5 regionally ranked Vulcans improved to 15-8 on the season and in the Pacific West Conference, while HPU fell to 8-15. 

UH Hilo had 24 hits in 11 innings, including 23 hits in the final eight innings of the day. Vevesi Liilii went 5-for-8 on the afternoon and drove in five runs. The cruel lords of softball also took two RBI and a double away from her in the first game when her bases loaded would-be-double ended the game when the first run crossed the plate. Skylar Thomas had four hits in seven at-bats on the afternoon.

The opener looked to be heading anywhere other than a mercy rule ending. Hawai`i Pacific pitcher Malia Torres was throwing blanks at the home team, allowing only one hit through the first three innings while sitting on a 2-0 lead. 

The Vulcans got things going in the fourth, with a little help. Two Shark errors and a wild pitch, sandwiched by base hits from Markie Okamoto, Liilii and Angel Prewitt gave the lead to UHH at 4-2. HPU would get one run back in the fifth (4-3), but the Vulcans would erupt and then some in the bottom of the fifth. 

In the game-ending inning, the Vulcans scored seven times on six hits. They sent 12 batters to the plate, and Liilii would have had two doubles in the inning (see above). As it was, she had two RBI-hits in the inning and Kamalei Labasan had a two-run single. 

Liili had three total hits in the opener and Thomas had two of her hits in the game. Seven different Vulcans recorded base knocks. Leah Gonzales pitched five innings to get the win to improve to 5-1 on the season, allowing five hits and one earned run. She walked four and fanned three.

In the second game, the Vulcans jumped out early with two runs in the first on Liilii's two-run single and added three more in the second on another run-scoring hit off Liilii's bat and a two-run single by Kiarra Lincoln. 

Prewitt drove home two more runs with a double in the third to make it 8-1. UHH left the bases loaded in the fifth when all they needed was one run to end it. HPU got a plate crossing in the sixth to make it 9-2, but UHH went back to work in the bottom half when Nikki Zielinski singled and Prewitt beat out a ground ball to shortstop. Lincoln followed with a drive over the right fielder's end that rolled to the fence to bring home the winning run.

Zielinski had three hits in the nightcap, while Liilii and Thomas had two each. Darian Obara went 2-for-2, scored a run, walked twice and had an RBI. Prewitt was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two runs batted in.

Valerie Alvarado and Sara Bhatt split the six-inning pitching duties with three innings each. Alvarado gave up a run and four hits, walked two and struck out two. Bhatt gave up one hit in three stanzas, one run, and walked three. By rule, Bhatt gets the win when starter goes only three innings in a six-inning contest. The freshman improved to 5-2 on the season.

The two teams are scheduled to play a single game at 11 am on Friday, weather permitting. The forecast calls for rain, which was the reason they worked in two games today.