The University of Hawaii at Hilo baseball team is preparing for a challenging season with a young team full of potential.
The Vulcans will open the season with a back-to-back series against defending conference champions as part of a 25-home-game slate.
The first pitch is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1 at Francis Wong Stadium against Augustana out of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. The Vikings went 47-13-1 overall a year ago with a finish in the NCAA Super Regional round.
The Vulcans will follow their five-game opening series with a four-game slate against Great Northwest Athletic Conference regular season co-champion Northwest Nazarene.
While the first two series are challenging, the team is ready to see what they can do together.
“Our first half of the season will be challenging, but interesting. Fans of Hilo baseball will see some good games,” said head coach Kallen Miyataki. “Last time we played Augustana they really exposed us, so this will be eye opening for us. They are a big team, but we’ll see what we can do.”
Miyataki is entering his tenth year at the helm of the program and is proud of how the team has grown athletically and academically.
“It’s been a journey from where we started to where we are now and I think each year we get better and better as a program,” Miyataki said. “What I’m most proud of is that the team GPA has risen from about 1.8 to 3.0. We have 20 guys on the Dean’s List and that’s pretty great for a baseball team.”
Hilo native Casey Yamaguchi will be returning for his fifth and final season as a utility player after having a .400 batting average last season and will be one to watch, according to Miyataki.
“We have a lot of talent coming back this season, but we also have a bunch of arms that haven’t been tested yet,” Miyataki said. “We’ll see how things progress this season and how we can put the pieces together through the season.”
Christian DeJesus is entering his fourth year as a pitcher for the Vulcan baseball team and is looking forward to tough competition with a new team.
“I’m feeling good this year, I like the changes we’ve had. We have a lot of young guys, it’s a young team with a lot of talent,” DeJesus said. “Playing the big dogs in the beginning of the season is nice, because it gives us a chance to see what we’re made of and what we have as a team this year.
Pacific West Conference play will begin on Friday, Feb. 24 against Concordia University Irvine. UH-Hilo will continue to host Biola, Point Loma Nazarene and Azusa Pacific through March 18 to complete its season-opening home stand.
The Vulcans will return to Hilo in late April for their final home series against HPU before closing the regular season against the Sharks on Oahu.
To follow the UH-Hilo season as it progresses, the schedule is available at hiloathletics.com/sports/baseball/schedule.
Email Kelsey Walling at kwalling@hawaiitribune-herald.com