Tribune-Herald
Tribune-Herald
The University of Hawaii at Hilo missed on a handful of scoring chances the first time around against Hawaii Pacific. After a hopeful start to the nightcap, the Vulcans’ opportunities all but disappeared.
The Sea Warriors rallied to score four runs in the fifth inning Saturday night and UHH managed just hit one hit in a 5-2 loss and got swept in Waipahu, Oahu, spoiling baseball coach Joey Estrella’s last series at Hans L’Orange Park.
Today’s noon doubleheader will mark the final road appearance of Estrella’s 37-year career, which will come to an end next weekend at Wong Stadium in a four-game series against Academy of Art.
The Vulcans (8-30-1, 7-25-1 Pacific West Conference) stranded nine runners on base and got only a Brad Fairweather home run in a 5-1 loss in the first game.
With junior left-hander Seamus Yoneshige racking up strikeouts, the start of the second game was promising enough.
John Abreu led off with what turned out to be UHH’s only hit, a double to right, and scored on Sam Kim’s groundout.
After finding ways not to score in the earlier game, the Vulcans manufactured a run in the second inning. Fairweather was hit by a pitch, stole second and came around to score on a error.
Hawaii Pacific (22-14, 13-11) cut into the deficit on Tyler Tokunaga’s RBI double in the third, and UHH couldn’t recover after Yoneshige walked the first two batters of the fifth.
Waiakea graduate Sheldon Shishido came on in relief, but a wild pitch tied the score and the Sea Warriors added run-scoring singles by Derek Nakasato, Kale Sumner and Marvin Campbell.
Michael Murray (4-2) retired 13 of the last 14 batters he faced, striking out six and allowing a walk and one earned run. Tre Haliburton-Goeas worked around a walk in the ninth to get his first save.
Tokunaga was 3 for 3 and Jordan Inamasu scored twice.
Yoneshige (3-5) struck out eight and allowed only two hits. But he walked four and allowed three runs in 4 1/3 innings in UHH’s fifth straight loss.
In the first game, Fairweather was 2 for 4 with a double and a homer and Abreu was 2 for 4 with two doubles as UHH banged out nine hits, four of them for extra bases. However, the Vulcans grounded into two double plays, including with the bases loaded in the fifth, and twice left two runners in scoring position as Joshua Garcia (4-2) struck out nine and hung tough for a complete game. He permitted two walks.
Hawaii Pacific broke through for three runs against Dane Kinoshita (1-5) in the third inning, getting a two-run single by Sumner, who was 2 for 3 with two runs scored.
Marvin Campbell added an RBI triple in the sixth inning of reliever Tyler Takata, Russell Doi was 2 for 3 and Tokunaga scored twice.
Kinoshita struck out four in five innings. The senior right-hander allowed four runs on five hits and six walks.
Fairweather’s blast to right field in the ninth was the senior outfielder’s first home run of the season.
First game
UHH 000 000 001 — 1 9 2
Hawaii Pacific 003 011 00x — 5 9 2
Second game
UHH 100 000 0 — 2 1 2
Hawaii Pacific 001 040 x —5 6 1