The University of Hawaii Hilo Vulcans baseball team has hit a rough patch as the Biola University Eagles took the first three games of a four-game series Friday and Saturday in La Mirada, Calif.
The Vulcans managed to avoid being swept by winning the last game of the series 9-7, according to the university’s website.
The series started with a 6-3 loss Friday afternoon as the Vulcans failed to score until the eighth inning, according to the postgame box score. The Vulcans plated two unearned runs in the eighth and Casey Yamauchi drove in Mason Campbell with a single to left. The late-game rally was not enough to overcome a six-run deficit however, despite the Vulcans shutting out the Eagles over the final three frames.
The second game was a back-and-forth affair, with four ties, according to the school’s website. It all came down to the eighth inning, where the Vulcans tied the game at 7 before Biola took the lead for good in the bottom half of the frame.
Saturday's first game of a doubleheader also had the Vulcans playing from behind, according to the school’s website. After Biola took a 2-0 lead in the fourth, Hilo closed the lead by half in the fifth. Biola took charge in the bottom of the fifth, plating five to go up 7-1. Hilo chipped away at the lead over the next couple of innings, closing it to 7-4, but Biola added three insurance runs in the eighth, then shut down Hilo after the Vulcans scored two in the ninth. Biola won 10-6.
To prevent the sweep, the Vulcans took charge from the start of the seven-inning Saturday late game, scoring five runs in the first three innings, according to the game’s box score. Joseph Gallagher got Hilo on the board by slamming a two-run homer in the first, bringing home Yamauchi.
The team added an unearned run in the second, then built a 5-0 lead with another two-run homer off the bat of Jaryn Kanbara.
Biola scored once in the third and fifth to make it a 5-2 game.
Joshua Fuentes cleared the fence in the seventh to give the Vulcans a 7-2 lead, the school’s website stated. Hilo add two insurance runs and took a 9-2 lead to the bottom half of the frame. Biola fought back hard though scoring five runs in the final inning, four of which came on a grand slam by Oscar Serratos, closing the gap to 9-7. Hilo escaped with the win after Biola failed to score again.
The Vulcans (19-12 overall, 8-10 in the Pacific West) next series will be against the Academy of Art Urban Knights at home March 25-26, according to the school’s website.