Baseball: Power bat, power arms pave way to Vuls victory

Jaryn Kanbara doesn’t want to be known as UH-Hilo’s home run hitter, but he sure fits the bill.

The junior catcher hit a home run in the sixth inning Friday, Christian Sadler pitched four solid innings of relief before handing it over the back end of the bullpen and the Vulcans beat Hawaii Pacific 6-3 on opening night at Wong Stadium.

The supposed team strength for UHH — its bullpen — was just that. John Kea struck out three in the ninth inning for the save after Brandyn Lee-Lehano fanned three in the eighth.

Kanbara led the Vulcans with four home runs last season, and his first of 2020 tied the game 3-3. The next two batters, Lawson Faria and John Bicos, reached on a single and walk, and two Sharks errors led to two runs.

While Kanbara knocked a ball out of the park, four UHH pitchers knocked the bats out of the hands of Sharks hitters, combining to strike out 14 in the Pacific West Conference contest.

Rustin Ho finished with three hits, including a double, and Faria had two hits, including an RBI single.

Sadler allowed only hit and an unearned run while striking out four in relief of Kyle Alcorn (three innings, five hits, two runs, walk, four strikeouts.

The teams return to Wong for a 3 p.m. doubleheader Saturday.