HILO, Hawai'i – It was a tale of two games as Hawai'i Hilo Baseball split the first of two doubleheaders against Jessup with a 3-1 victory and a 13-2 loss on Friday night in Pacific West Conference play at the James "Jimmy" Correa Ballfield at Francis Wong Stadium.
Starting pitcher Logan Groff fired a one-hitter with seven strikeouts as Orlando Leon Jr. fended off a last-inning charge by the Warriors to help secure the Vulcans' first win of the PacWest season.
Game 2 was a close affair with the score all knotted up after five innings before the score unraveled with Jessup plating 11 runs through the final two innings.
Hawai'i Hilo moved to 1-5 in the PacWest (3-8 overall) as Jessup moved to a 6-4 conference record (9-4 overall).
UP NEXT: Saturday, March 1 (3 PM + 6 PM) vs Jessup (Hilo, Hawai'i / James "Jimmy" Correa Ballfield at Francis Wong Stadium)
GAME 1: JESSUP 1, HAWAI'I HILO 3
- Groff took a no-hitter into the top of the sixth before Jessup designated hitter Nick Poss managed to get one down the left field line for the only hit allowed by the Vulcans' starting pitcher. The senior transfer went 7.0 innings with just one walk given up while tallying up seven strikeouts.
- Arthur Soto slammed a two-run home run to left field in the second inning to put Hawai'i Hilo up on the scoreboard.
- Cody Min knocked an RBI triple into the opposite-field corner to add another Vulcans run in the bottom of the fifth.
- John Navarro pitched a scoreless eighth inning to make way for Leon Jr. to close the game out. After consecutive singles and a walk to load the bases, Leon Jr. induced two fly outs — the second of which resulted in a run scored to erase the shutout — before flashing the athleticism with a 3-1 PFP for the final out to grab the victory and the save.
GAME 2: JESSUP 13, HAWAI'I HILO 2 (7 INNINGS)
- After 3.5 scoreless innings, Braeden Mondeau capitalized on back-to-back lead-off walks with an RBI single to left field for the first run of the game.
- The Vulcans recorded two errors in each contest of Friday's doubleheader but were unharmed in the opening game. In the top of the fifth of the Game 2, two errors on the potential third out resulted in Jessup taking a 2-1 lead.
- Hawai'i Hilo bounced right back in bottom half with a solo bomb by Brandon Wada to tie the game at 2-2. Wada batted 2 for 2 and came across the plate to score both Vulcans runs.
- Jessup had just eight hits as it plated 11 runs in the final two innings aided by seven free passes to first base — six walks and one hit-by-pitch.
- Center fielder Chris Varljen followed up his five putout Game 1 performance with five more putouts.
