Biola didn’t need the help, but the UH-Hilo baseball team provided too much anyway.
UHH pitchers walked eight and four of those free passes came around to score, and the Eagles bashed four home runs in a 10-6 win Friday on their way to a doubleheader sweep at wet Wong Stadium.
In a rain-delayed second game that was shortened to eight innings but still didn’t end until after 11:30 p.m., UHH mustered just two hits in a 4-1 loss. That game feature more dominance by Biola left-hander Larsen Kindreich and a wild stretch by left-hander Kyle Alcorn.
The two teams play another doubleheader at 3 p.m. Saturday at Wong.
At least there’s a bit of consolation for the Vulcans because the four-game series are all nonconference games.
The Eagles are 11-1 and 0-0 in the PacWest. The Vulcans are 2-6 and 2-0 PacWest.
Ryan Gallegos clobbered a two-run homer while Jacob Portaro, Connor Kostecka, and Brandon Cody blasted solo shots for the Eagles, who finished with 10 hits.
Porter, the cleanup hitter, fattened his stats. He went 3 for 5 with two RBIs, and Cody was 2 for 5 with two RBIs.
David Ryan pitched five innings of three-run relief to lower Biola’s team ERA to a conference-best 3.41.
Jacob Liberta pitched 2 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on three hits and two walks in the loss. He was one of six pitchers for the Vuls, whose team ERA jumped to a conference-worst 5.83.
“We didn’t do our job on the mound,” UHH coach Kallen Miyataki said. “The walks killed us. I thought we did a good job, working the ball down and getting off the mound (in practice). Apparently, we didn’t do a good job.
“What I was happy about was we came back toward the ending part. They’re 10-1 for a reason. They could hit the ball. I think we’re there. We’re getting better along the way.”
The game started on a nice note, and the Vuls were able to get a handle on Biola starter Kenny Carrillo, who went 2 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on five hits and one walk.
Jacob Igawa and Jaryn Kanbara each singled, and Chris Aubort had an RBI single and advanced to second on an outfield error. Lawson Faria followed with a run-scoring single for a 3-0 lead.
In the second, UHH starter Christian Casados walked three straight Eagles, and they all scored, one on a double steal of home, another on Kostecka’s sacrifice fly, and Cody had an RBI single.
Biola scored four innings from the fourth to the sixth inning. Cody and Kostecka hammered solo homers during that spree.
In the eighth, both teams scored three runs each, but the Vulcans stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning, a key turning point.
The Eagles tried to play the matchup game as much as possible. After Ryan allowed an RBI single to Lawson Faria, he was pulled for another left-handed reliever, Bentley Acee, who surrendered two singles and hit Casey Yamauchi.
The bases were full with two out. Rustin Ho, UHH’s No. 2 hitter, was at the plate. But the Eagles had their desired left-on-left matchup. Acee wiggled out of his own self-induced trouble when he got Ho to fly out to right field.
The game marked the first appearance of the season for sophomore Jamieson Hirayama, a 2017 Waiakea graduate.
The sophomore reliever entered in the sixth with two out and one on and No. 3 hitter Ryan Gallegos at the plate. He got him on a flyout to second base. Throwing strikes and making the ball dance worked just fine for Hirayama, a side-armer.
In the seventh, Hirayama retired Portaro and Andy Van Antwerp on flouts. He gave up a walk and single and was pulled for left-hander Rysen Ross, who got a groundout on a stellar field-and-throw play by third baseman Lucas Sakay.
It was a flashback to the old Waiakea days when one Warrior picked up another. Hirayama pitched a scoreless inning. Ross wasn’t as fortunate. In an inning, he allowed three runs on two homers.
“We’ll be OK. We want to give the local kids a chance,” Miyataki said. “That’s the whole thing, giving these kids experience.”
UHH’s last pitcher, freshman right-hander Garrett Gladney was the most impressive. He went 1 1/3 scoreless innings and whiffed three.
Jacob Igawa, another former Warrior, batted 2 for 4 as did Lawson, and Kanbara was 3 for 5 with an RBI for the Vuls, who had 12 hits and stranded 10 on base.
Miyataki was mindful that not all losses are created equally. But it helps to get as many wins as possible in the bid for postseason play.
“We still want to get wins on the board and do our best job,” he said. “At least, we’re 2-0 in the PacWest conference.”
In the second game, Kindreich continued his scoreless streak with three hitless innings and five strikeouts but didn’t factor into the decision.
The Eagles took advantage of an erratic Alcorn, who hit five batters and walked three more in four innings and scored a run in each of the first four innings.
Kindreich threw 50 pitches and was flawless again besides hitting a batter. In 23 innings this season, the sophomore has yet to allow a run and has 40 strikeouts with only eight hits allowed and five walks. Andrew Beauvais (2-0) came on and worked 4 1/3 innings, yielding only an unearned run in the fourth when Yamauchi singled, reached third on a error and scored on Igawa’s double-play grounder.
Alcorn was touched for four hits, including Tyler Baca’s RBI double and two earned runs, striking out two. All told, Alcorn, Gladney and Aaron Davies combined to hit eight batters.
