AZUSA, California – Hits were flying out of the park Wednesday afternoon, but unfortunately, a majority of them came off contact from opposing players' bats as Hawai'i Hilo Baseball was swept by Azusa Pacific, 18-8 and 7-1, in a doubleheader at the Cougar Baseball Complex.

The Vulcans had just locked up their first series victory of the Pacific West Conference season and will now have to climb out of a 2-0 hole with aspirations of splitting the series with the Cougars.

APU managed nine total home runs through Games 1 and 2 as Arthur Soto and Trent Jackson went yard for the Vulcans. The Cougar Baseball Complex takes on an interesting diamond shape with 310 feet to left field, 290 feet down the right-field line and 405 at its deepest in center field.

The first game wrapped up after seven innings due to the PacWest Conference's 10-run mercy rule (as of May 2022).

GAME 1: HAWAI'I HILO 8 - AZUSA PACIFIC 18 (7 INNINGS)

• Five different APU players combined for six homers, led by two jacks from Cade Marshman. Spencer Rasmussen got the scoring going for the Cougars with a two-out two-run home run in the bottom half of the opening inning. Carson Collett added another run with a solo shot in the second.
• Nick Agacki got the start for Hawai'i Hilo, going 2.2 innings with four strikeouts but six walks and eight runs allowed. APU opened up the game in the third inning by getting on with eight-pitch consecutive walks. Another walk followed later to bring in another run for the Cougars before adding three more on batted balls in play for an 8-0 lead.
• The Vulcans' bats were also alive and banging, totaling 13 hits to match three other game totals for third best of the season. Hawai'i Hilo came alive in the top of the fourth with quadruple base hits (Mark Fedro, Cody Min, Soto and Mason Cook) to lead off the inning. Bryce Lindberg drew a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and Bryce Tweedt cashed in with a two-RBI single to cut the deficit in half.
• APU rallied on two outs to plate three runs in the bottom of the fourth before adding another three on a home run by Marshman in the fifth. The Cougars closed their scoring with homers by Omar Lopez and Cameron Lee in the sixth for an 18-5 advantage.
• Fedro and Min again singled to set up Soto's three-run dinger in the top of the seventh, but that would be all as APU got the TKO win to open the four-game series.

GAME 2: HAWAI'I HILO 1 - AZUSA PACIFIC 7 (7 INNINGS)

• The home runs kept coming as Marshman blasted his third homer of the day for two quick runs on just the Cougars' second at-bat of the game.
• Trent Jackson got a run back with an absolute hammer shot over the left-center field fence in the top of the second, but that would be it for the Vulcans as they got baserunners on in all of but one inning and just couldn't keep the offense going to bring them home.
• Collett hit another solo shot for APU with Keegan Rodin joining on a lead-off homer in the bottom of the sixth to close the scoring at 7-1.
• Tyrus Stephens made his fourth start of the season for the Vulcans, going 4.1 innings with five strikeouts and four walks surrendered for four runs scored.

UP NEXT

Hawai'i Hilo moved to 14-18 overall (7-11 PacWest) while Azusa Pacific moved to a 8-5 conference record (13-15 overall). Two teams will play again Thursday afternoon in another doubleheader.

The Vulcans will conclude their road trip with a four-game series against PacWest-newcomer Westmont (March 25-26).

Alumni Game will be Saturday, March 30 at 1 p.m. with the next home games set for April 13 against Chaminade.