UHH baseball falls to Fresno Pacific
FRESNO, California – The bats continued to boom big, but it wasn’t enough to keep up as the UH-Hilo baseball team concluded its series with Fresno Pacific by dropping both games Tuesday afternoon, 13-5 and 8-3, in Pacific West Conference action.
After smashing four home runs in Monday’s doubleheader, the Vulcans added four more including back-to-back jacks by Ryan Cho and Trent Jackson in the seventh inning of Game 3.
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However, FPU racked up double-digit hits in both doubleheader games to close out the series with a sweep.
Going by conference win percentage, the Sunbirds moved into first place in the regular season standings at 12-7 (.632) while the Vulcans fell to No. 8 at 11-14 (.440).
Fresno Pacific got the first game started by stitching together seven hits to plate five runs through the first three innings, capped by a solo home run from Chris Clement.
UH-Hilo got things going in the fourth inning by following up a lead-off walk with back-to-back singles to score a run, but the Vulcans were unable to cash in further as they were retired with the bases loaded. An inning later, Blake Tweedt blasted a two-run homer to make it a two-score deficit.
FPU re-extended itself with a five-hit four-run bottom of the sixth to make it a 9-3 lead.
Cho and Jackson went yard back-to-back in the top of the seventh to add a pair of runs to stay within striking distance, but the Sunbirds again added four more runs in the bottom frame to put the game away for good.
Redshirt junior Alex Hobgood made his first plate appearance of the season and notched his first career hit with a single in the ninth inning.
The Vulcans jumped on board early in game two with three consecutive hits to bring in a pair of runs in the opening frame of the game.
The Sunbirds responded in the bottom of the first inning with back-to-back hits before Andrew Valdez hit a three-run home run to take the lead. FPU managed five more hits an inning later as it further extended the lead to an 8-2 score.
Ryan Cho closed out the scoring with a solo shot in the sixth inning, but that would be it as the score remained, 8-3, through the end of the game.
UH-Hilo moved to 11-12 in the PacWest (20-14 overall) as Fresno Pacific moved to a 10-7 record (16-16 overall).
The Vulcans will return to Francis Wong Stadium to host HPU for their final home games, April 21–23.
UH-Hilo came in at No. 7 in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association NCAA Division II West Regional rankings released this past Monday.
Last week, the Vulcans shared the seventh spot with Cal State Dominguez Hills but now hold sole possession of the No. 7 rank after the Toros dropped out of the top 10.
Fellow PacWest Conference schools Point Loma Nazarene and Azusa Pacific sit above at No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, with Holy Names not far behind at No. 8.
Cal State San Bernardino remained at the top with Cal State Monterey Bay closing in at No. 2.
