Tribune-Herald
Tribune-Herald
Logan Birr pitched five innings of solid relief as third-ranked St. Cloud State won a continued game 7-1 Monday and went on to sweep a doubleheader from the University of Hawaii at Hilo baseball team at Wong Stadium.
Birr inherited a 5-0 lead after Sunday night’s series opener was delayed by rain and struck out seven over the final five innings to improve to 3-0 on the season.
Catcher Travis Enger was 3 for 5 with two RBIs, including a solo home run Sunday night for the Huskies (11-1).
The Vulcans (4-10) lost their fifth straight in a 5-1 loss in Monday’s nightcap.
However, coach Joey Estrella said it’s still early to push the panic button.
“We’re playing a really good team, and the ranking shows that. But the bottom line is we still haven’t put it all together yet,” he said. “St. Cloud State has had some timely hitting so far, and we haven’t gotten that yet. I’m still proud of the way we played against a good team.”
Jeremy Dela Cruz (0-1) took the loss in the opener, but Jordan Kumasaka provided a bright spot out of the bullpen Monday, yielding only an earned run in five innings.
Joshua Wong, Steven Riddle and Larry Valdes each went 2 for 4 for the Vulcans, who stranded 10 runners.
In the second game, UHH was hurt by three errors.
Gaven Kinoshita started and took the loss, allowing five hit and five runs — three earned — with four walks and five strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.
Kyle Fischer threw five innings to earn the victory yielding only a run and six hits with a walk and five strikeouts.
Wong provided the Vulcans’ offense with an RBI single in the first inning.