HILO, Hawai'i – The 16th-ranked Hawai'i Hilo baseball team fell to Azusa Pacific twice Monday evening, 7-4 and 12-2, as the Cougars took the series three games to one to wrap-up the Vulcans' season-opening home slate.

For the time being, Azusa Pacific holds the top spot in the Pacific West Conference standings with a 7-1 record (.875) as Hawai'i Hilo slots in at No. 2 at 8-5 (.615).

The top four teams at the end of the regular season will advance to the PacWest Championships in Fresno, California set for the second week of May.

GAME 3: AZUSA PACIFIC 7, NO. 16 HAWAI'I HILO 4 (11 INNINGS)

• With runners at the corners and two outs, Cody Hirata entered the game to pitch for the Vulcans and got the job done by inducing a grounder to third base to get out of the jam with the tied-score still intact.
• After starting the 11th inning with another ground out, APU quickly got two runners on before Casey O'Laughlin launched a three-run homer to right field to give the Cougars a three-run advantage for the eventual victory.
• Casey Yamauchi drove in three Vulcans runs with a sacrifice fly in the third inning followed later by a two-run home run in the fifth.
• Hawai'i Hilo equalized the score in the bottom of the eighth inning with a two-out rally on back-to-back singles from Alec Yamauchi and Blake Tweedt. Winning-pitcher Jake Vargas entered the game for APU but allowed Alec Yamauchi to score on a wild pitch.
• The Vulcans batted three-up, three-down five times this game.

GAME 4: AZUSA PACIFIC 12, NO. 16 HAWAI'I HILO 2 (7 INNINGS)

• The game was all knotted up, 3-3, after three and two-thirds innings. Hawai'i Hilo starting pitcher had already notched six strikeouts but seemingly lost control as he surrendered two walks and hit two batters to give up two runs before an RBI single brought in another pair of scores for the Cougars.
• APU looked to add more runs to its lead in the sixth inning with the bases loaded on two outs, but John Navarro entered onto the mound and ended the threat with a three-pitch strikeout.
• In the final inning, the Cougars added five more runs helped by a handful of defensive miscues by the Vulcans. But APU cashed in with four RBI hits to put the score at a 12-2 advantage.
• Chris Varjlen and Ryan Cho drove in the Vulcans' two runs of the game, both on RBI doubles.

WHAT'S NEXT

Hawai'i Hilo moved to 8-5 in the PacWest (15-6 overall) as Azusa Pacific moved to a 7-1 conference record (14-8 overall).

Hawai'i Hilo will hold its Alumni Game March 18 at 1 p.m. at Francis Wong Stadium.

The Vulcans will travel to O'ahu for three non-conference games with HPU, March 25-26, before heading to northern California for games against Holy Names, Academy of Art and Fresno Pacific through mid-April.

MOVING ON UP

In the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association NCAA Division II poll released this past Wednesday, the Vulcans jumped up seven spots to land at No. 16.

Note that the latest rankings only accounted for Hawai'i Hilo's lone win against Biola the week prior and did not factor in its three wins over No. 11 Point Loma Nazarene to begin last week.

In the latest West Region rankings released Monday, Hawai'i Hilo moved up a spot to No. 2, swapping spots with PLNU. CSU San Bernardino held the top spot with Cal Poly Pomona, PLNU and APU following behind in order.