It was a wild week way out west as Point Loma and Azusa Pacific visited HPU and Hawai'i Hilo. APU got off the islands with an impressive 7-1 record to earn the PacWest Team of the Week. Hawai'i Hilo pitcher Aaron Davies did his best to shut down two of the best teams in the west region with 11 innings of work to earn Pitcher of the Week. During a week when a number of hitters stood out for their work at the plate, two players couldn't be separated by the numbers and thus there are Co-Players of the Week — APU's Omar Lopez and UH Hilo's Casey Yamauchi.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Hawai'i Hilo's Casey Yamauchi, SS, Sr., Hilo, Hawai'i
Veteran shortstop Casey Yamauchi swung a hot bat as he helped his team to a 4-4 mark against Point Loma and Azusa Pacific. In a grueling eight games, the local Hilo product hit .444 (12-for-27) with 11 runs scored, five doubles, a home run, four stolen bases and three RBI. The Vulcans lead-off hitter had a .741 slugging percentage and went 8-for-13 against the Sea Lions, including a 4-for-4 game in the series opener with a pair of doubles. On the season, the fifth-year starter is hitting a sizzling .453 with 27 runs scored in 21 games and 9 stolen bases in 11 chances.
CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Azusa Pacific's Omar Lopez, INF, Jr., Chula Vista, Calif.
Azusa Pacific 3B-SS Omar Lopez had Player of the Week numbers to match Yamauchi. In seven games, Lopez hit .437 (14-for-32) and drove in nine runs with four doubles and a triple. He also scored six times as the Cougars swept HPU and won three of four against the Vulcans. Lopez had multiple hits in five of the seven games he played, including three hits each in the first two games of the series against the Sharks. The 2022 Second Team All-PacWest shortstop has an eight-game hitting streak and is batting .313 on the season with eight doubles, six home runs and 21 RBI.
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Hawai'i Hilo's Aaron Davies, LHP, Sr., San Pedro, Calif.
Lefthander Aaron Davies was outstanding in relief and as a starter for Hawai'i Hilo against power hitting Point Loma and Azusa Pacific. In 11 total innings and wins against the Sea Lions and Cougars, Davies gave up just five total hits, no earned runs, walked only two and struck out six. In the start against APU, the fourth-year Vulcan went seven innings and allowed three hits and picked up the win. Versus Point Loma, he came out of the bullpen for four innings and gave up just two scratch hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out five. On the season, the Californian is 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA.
COUGARS COOK IN HAWAI'I: The PacWest Team of the Week is the AZUSA PACIFIC COUGARS. After a brutal preseason slate that featured eight games against Top 25 teams, Azusa Pacific got settled in just in time for the start of conference play in Hawai'i. The Cougars rolled through the Sharks in four games, outscoring HPU 41-13, scoring in double digits in three of the four games. They then moved on to the Big Island, taking on lava hot Hawai'i Hilo, who had just won three of four against Point Loma. APU continued the offensive onslaught, other than their only loss of the trip, a 2-1 setback against UHH's Aaron Davies. Otherwise they outscored UH Hilo 33-16, giving them an astounding 74 runs in eight games (74-29). The Cougars are now 14-8 on the season and are off to a 7-1 start in PacWest play.
PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: The offensive numbers were outstanding in Hawai'i. In addition to Casey Yamauchi and Omar Lopez (see above), APU's Cameron Lee scored 14 times in eight games, drove in seven runs and had five stolen bases. UHH's Ryan Cho hit .385 in eight games with seven RBI, four doubles and a home run … Point Loma's Jake Entrekin hit a fire-hot .524 in eight games (11-for-21) with seven runs batted in … There were a number of outstanding pitching performances as well. Holy Names' Eddie Curley pitched a gem against Academy of Art, tossing seven innings and allowing only two hits, no runs, no walks and he fanned seven…Garrett Cooper was equally good for Fresno Pacific against Biola, picking up the win in a seven-inning outing, giving up one scratch hit, walked one, gave up no runs and struck out six … Biola's Andrew Beauvais got the win against FPU with a six inning performance, giving up four hits, no runs, two walks and he sent down four via the K … Issac Mendez had two great outings in Hawai'i, defeating HPU and UHH. Against the Sharks he went seven stanzas, gave up two hits and no runs. Including his six inning win against UH Hilo, Mendez threw 13 innings, gave up nine hits, three runs and he struck out 11.
TRIO OF SERIES ON TAP THIS WEEK: This week's schedule features Fresno Pacific at Academy of Art for four games, Holy Names at Azusa Pacific and Point Loma travels to Biola.
PACWEST FIELDS THREE TEAMS IN TOP FIVE OF REGIONAL POLL: Three of the top five teams in this week's College Baseball Writer's West Region poll are from the Pacific West Conference. Monday's (3/13) poll looks like this: (1) Cal State San Bernardino 15-2, (2) Hawai'i Hilo 15-4, (3) Cal Poly Pomona 13-5, (4) Point Loma 11-7, (5) Azusa Pacific 12-8, (6) Cal State Monterey Bay 10-9, (7) Cal State Dominguez Hills 9-5, (8) Chico State 7-6, (9) Northwest Nazarene 11-14, (10) Stanislaus State 11-10. RV—Holy Names 12-7, Concordia 8-10.
