The UH-Hilo baseball team’s warts showed up in the fifth inning against Fresno Pacific in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday.
The Vulcans committed nine errors in a four-game series against Hawaii Pacific last week but played flawless defense in the first two games against the Sunbirds.
It all unraveled Saturday in ugly fashion. UHH committed a whopping seven errors, which led to two unearned runs.
The Sunbirds scored two runs in the fifth and capitalized on seven errors for a 7-3 win over the Vulcans at Wong Stadium in the four-game series.
In the seven-inning second game, the Vulcans beat the Sunbird 1-0 behind Aaron Davies’ three-hitter. Joe Gallagher had an RBI single in the third inning to split the series. Davies walked three and struck out six.
UHH (13-6, 2-4 PacWest) next plays a four-game series against Holy Names (9-8, 2-2) starting at 3:30 p.m. Wednesday at Wong Stadium.
In Game 1, UHH entered the fifth down 4-3 with reliever Ty Honda on the mound. He gave up singles to Dante Valdez and Kyle Willman, who got an infield hit snagged by third baseman Gallagher.
However, Gallagher’s errant throw to first base allowed Valdez to score and Willman to advance to third. He later scored on Khalid Johnson’s triple to center for a 6-3 lead.
Gallagher had a bad day at the office and was charged with four errors. Right fielder Bradyn Yoshida, left fielder Riley Gill and starting pitcher Christian DeJesus were each charged with one error.
That four-run deficit was too big a hole for the Vulcans, who have four comeback wins, to dig out of with No. 3 starter Justin Fuson on the mound.
Fuson (2-1), a junior right-hander, pitched six innings of three-run ball for the win. Fuson walked two, struck out six and left five stranded on base. Sophomore right-hander Brady Crow fired the final three innings for the save.
DeJesus (1-1) pitched four innings and gave up four runs (one unearned) in the loss. Honda fired 1 2/3 innings of two-run (one unearned) relief. Jamieson Hirayama stranded one and recorded an out. Eamon Velarde pitched three innings of one-run relief.
The Vulcans couldn’t figure out how to get out Khalid Johnson, who batted 3 for 5 and scored two runs. Valdez, Aguiar (the No. 2 pitcher), Willman, and Andrew Valdez each had two hits for the Sunbirds (9-5, 2-2 PacWest), who compiled 14 hits and left 11 runners on base.
Casey Yamauchi and Brett Yoshida had two hits each to lead the Vulcans, who managed 10 hits and stranded eight on base, including two on in the fourth, sixth and seventh innings.
In the fourth with two out and runners on first and second, Fuson struck out Gill.
In the sixth with two out and two on, Gill had a second shot against Fuson but hit into an inning-ending fielder’s choice groundout.
In the seventh, with two out and two on, Crow got backup catcher and cleanup hitter Kekaulike Kalua to hit into an inning-ending fielder’s choice groundout.
UHH’s other wart was its inability to throw out runners stealing bases. The Sunbirds went 4 of 4 on steal attempts.
Fresno Pacific catcher Willman struggled as well. The Vulcans went 3 of 3 on steal attempts. That mattered little, though. The Sunbirds smashed them with the Holy Trinity of blueprint baseball: better hitting, better pitching and better defense.
