Blair Moore homered and drove in four runs to highlight an 18-hit attack as Cal Baptist overpowered the University of Hawaii at Hilo 13-4 in the first game of a baseball doubleheader on Friday.
Blair Moore homered and drove in four runs to highlight an 18-hit attack as Cal Baptist overpowered the University of Hawaii at Hilo 13-4 in the first game of a baseball doubleheader on Friday.
The Pacific West Conference twinbill was played in Riverside, Calif. In the second game, the Lancers defeated the Vulcans 8-2 in a seven-inning contest.
Moore, a third baseman, went 4-for-5 with four RBIs and scored twice. Teammates Nathan Antoun (two-run homer) and Matt Daugherty (three RBIs) each added three hits. Antonio Chavarria had two hits, including a homer, to go along with two RBIs.
Leadoff batter John Abreu had a two-run triple for the Vulcans (7-27, 7-21 PacWest) in the opener. Tyler Nitahara (one RBI) and Samuel Kim each had two hits. Second baseman Ryan Fukunaga added an RBI single and scored a run.
Lancers starter Michael Davis (2-1) pitched five innings and got the win. He scattered 10 hits and allowed four runs while striking out four without a walk.
UH-Hilo starter Bryce Shandro (0-3) went three innings and took the loss. He gave up eight hits and eight runs with one walk.
In Game 2, Cal Baptist (19-9, 12-2) broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fourth with a run, then added another run in the fifth and four in the sixth to break away.
“It was a pretty good game, except for the sixth inning,” coach Joey Estrella said. “We had some opportunities but just weren’t able to convert.”
The Lancers had three more home runs in the second game as Moore, Chavarria and Luke Esquerra went yard. Moore (RBI) and Daugherty each had two hits to lead the Lancers. Matt Marnati had a two-run double to add to Cal Baptist’s 10-hit attack.
Samuel Kim (solo homer) and Abreu had two hits apiece to lead UH-Hilo’s nine-hit attack.
Cal Baptist starter Adam Hofacket (2-3) hurled five innings and earned the win. He gave up eight hits and two runs while striking out three and not walking a batter. Vulcan starter Richie Mariano (0-1) pitched five innings, allowing nine hits and seven runs. He struck out four and walked one, and was tagged with the loss.
The Vulcans play Cal Baptist in a 9 a.m. doubleheader today to close the four-game series.
UH-Hilo returns to play Hawaii Pacific on April 6-7 on Oahu before finishing their season against Academy of Art University on April 12-13 at Wong Stadium. The four-game series against will mark the end of Estrella’s 36-year coaching career for the Vulcans.
He is retiring after this season.
Golf
Kozuma tied for 33rd
at U.S. Intercollegiate
The University of Hawaii at Hilo’s Corey Kozuma fired a 75 on Friday and was tied for 33rd place after the second round of the NCAA Division I U.S. Intercollegiate.
The tournament is being played on the Stanford University golf course. The Vulcans are the only Division II team competing in the 18-team field.
UH-Hilo carded a 293 total Friday after a 291 in the first round and were in last place at 24-over-par 584.
Heading into today’s final round, Stanford leads the field with a 17-under-par 543. TCU is second at 554, followed by St. Mary’s and San Francisco, both tied at 559.
Kozuma, a junior out of Iolani School on Oahu, opened the tournament with a 68 and was at 3-over-par 143. Also competing for UH-Hilo are Jamie Hall (71-73—144, T-49th); Dalen Yamauchi (75-73—148, T-71st), Chris Shimomura (77-72—149, T-77th) and Kyten Littel (77-79—156, T-94th).