Even with one of the top college pitchers in the West, it’s tough for the University of Hawaii at Hilo to win a baseball game these days. ADVERTISING Even with one of the top college pitchers in the West, it’s
Even with one of the top college pitchers in the West, it’s tough for the University of Hawaii at Hilo to win a baseball game these days.
Senior Jordan Kurokawa (1-2) set a school record with 12 strikeouts Monday night at Wong Stadium and dropped his earned run average to a minuscule 0.78 but it was all washed away by six Vulcans errors and some sloppy base running in a 6-2 loss to Azusa Pacific.
“We can’t win like this,” said UHH coach Kallen Miyataki, “we can’t beat anybody with six errors, it doesn’t matter who we play.”
It was the sixth consecutive loss for Hawaii Hilo, which fell to 1-6 in Pacific West Conference play and 2-7 overall, while the Cougars, with their third straight win over the Vulcans, improved to 3-0 in the PWC and 7-9 overall.
The two teams conclude their four-game series Tuesday at 6 p.m.
“I really felt good tonight,” Kurokawa said, “I had everything working for me, I could feel it, but it’s just a bitter loss and now, it’s about turning the page and moving on.”
Kurokawa looked overpowering after allowing two first-inning singles, but an assortment of throwing and fielding errors took all the fun out of the evening. He had two strikeouts in each of the first five innings and got his 12th when he fanned designated hitter Steven Garrett in the seventh.
The school’s modern strikeout record was established by Lars Knepper in 2007 when the transfer from Bellevue (Washington) Community College struck out 11 Kansas Jayhawks over 6 2/3 innings in an early season game at Hilo. The school did not maintain a statistical backlog until joining the NCAA in 1994.
“I guess that’s a positive,” Kurokawa said of the single-game strikeout record, “but winning is more important. Something to shoot for now will be getting more (than 12 in a game). But if I do my job and we win, that’s really all I need.”
The Vulcans gave Kurokawa a first inning lead after left fielder Kyle Yamada led off the game with a base hit, advanced to third on Jonathan Segovia’s single through the hole in right and scored on a third-to-first ground ball out by Jacob Grijalva.
Kurokawa wriggled out of a bit of a jam in the fifth after issuing his first walk of the game that preceded a throwing error by third baseman Byron Freitas but two more strikeouts got the right-hander out of the inning. He allowed another base hit in the sixth, another throwing error put two runners on, then Kurokawa helped his own cause by grabbing a bunt that was popped up for the first out. Yamada gunned down a runner trying to score on a single and the final out was recorded on a ground ball to second base.
The Cougars finally exploited another Hawaii Hilo error in the seventh when Luke Huerta reached on the Vulcans’ fourth throwing error — the second by Frietas — and moved up on a hit batter but Kurokawa eventually got his record-tying 11th strikeout on Adrian Tovalin and induced an ground ball to second for the last out.
The Vulcans ran themselves out of a golden scoring opportunity in the bottom of the seventh when, with runners on second and third, Yamada squared for a sacrifice bunt but the pitchout caught Marcus Calamese — running for Sean Nearhoof, who reached on an error — off third base and he was thrown out. An infield ground ball ended the inning.
A leadoff error at third base got the Cougars started in the eighth, then a single and a sacrifice fly accounted for the 3-1 lead and ended the evening for Kurokawa. Sophomore Deric Valoroso relieved Kurokawa and allowed a double and home run in surrendering three more runs in the ninth.
“If you come out to these games, we’ve put ourselves in a position to win them, almost every one,” Miyataki said, “but when we get in those positions, we haven’t been executing. If that doesn’t change, these results probably won’t change.
“I hate it for (Kurokawa),” he said, “we all believe in him, but right now we have a revolving door problem with errors, that has to change.”
