HILO – After a day of rainouts, the sun came out to play as UH-Hilo hosted Biola on Saturday for two of a scheduled four-game series of Pacific West Conference action, with the Vulcans falling twice — 6-3 and 3-1 — at the Vulcan Softball Field.
Despite performing well in other aspects of the game, the Vulcans couldn’t quite catch up to the Eagles’ offensive firepower as they were outhit 21-9 through both games.
Friday’s first doubleheader of the scheduled four-game series was canceled due to inclement weather
In the first game, Dyoni Garcia had a tremendous outing — batting three for three with two RBI and one run scored. The freshman was responsible for the Vulcans’ first two runs after coming in clutch twice with two outs — first on a RBI-double to center field in the first inning followed by a RBI-single in the third inning.
Garcia led off the bottom of the sixth with a single, and moved over to third on a wild pitch and a sacrifice bunt — then Brandee Chinen brought her in with a RBI-double to make it a one-run game at a 4-3 deficit.
On the flip side, Abie Nowak did the damage for Biola, batting two for four with three RBI after first driving in two runs in the third inning with a two-out double to center field. Nowak doubled again in the seventh inning to bring across the Eagles’ fifth run.
Colby McClinton and Kaitlyn Hawkins each scored two runs while totaling three and two hits, respectively.
The Eagles scored the game-winning run in the sixth inning after executing on small-ball action with a Hawkins lead-off single, followed by back-to-back sacrifice bunts before cashing in with Rilee Ruvalcaba’s RBI base knock through the right side.
In game two, Nowak got things going for the Eagles with an RBI single in the third inning as she finished the game batting two for four with a run scored.
Alexis Lara batted three for four and robbed a potential home run from the Vulcans’ Garcia in the sixth inning after tracking back to the left-field fence and making a catch at the top of the protective barrier.
Down 2-0 in the fifth inning, UH-Hilo gained momentum after Madison Smith reached on an error followed by Chinen beating the throw on a laid-down bunt for the single.
Two batters later, Chinen stole second as the throw down from the catcher was wide right, allowing Smith to come home to make it a 2-1 ballgame. However, the Vulcans couldn’t add on any further as they ended the inning with back-to-back ground outs to the pitcher.
UH-Hilo moved to 0-6 in the PacWest (3-12 overall) while Biola improved to a 9-1 record (16-5 overall).
