SAN DIEGO— After mustering up enough offense to secure the series victory the Point Loma Sea Lions (36-6 overall, 18-6 PacWest) ended with a doubleheader split against the Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans (26-16 overall, 14-14 PacWest) Saturday afternoon at Carroll B. Land Stadium.
Otto Kemp's 2-run homer tied the game in the third and he drove in the winning run with a single in the fifth before
Hunter Otjen, Zach Veen, and
Cole Hillier combined for five scoreless innings of relief to secure the series victory with a 3-2 win. But the offense failed to score in game two, and Hawai'i Hilo salvaged the final game by handing the Sea Lions a 2-0 defeat, snapping what was an 8-game win streak.
PLNU's starter in game 1 of the day,
Nathan Garkow, surrendered a two-run home run early on by Hilo's Ryan Cho, but settled in and didn't give up any more runs after the 2
nd inning.
The Sea Lions wasted little time responding with two runs of their own in the third. After
Izayah Alvarez worked a walk, Kemp sent his 12th home run over the left-centerfield fence.
Garkow went four innings strong before Otjen took the mound to keep the Vulcans scoreless for another two.
Kemp gave the Sea Lions the lead in the fifth when he batted
Jason DuMont in with a line-drive single.
Kemp's RBI single was the last time the Sea Lions would score in the game. That didn't matter though, because Zach Veen and
Cole Hillier kept Hilo hitless during the final three innings of the game.
Hillier's four-out save was the first time he had pitched more than an inning in one appearance in nearly a month. He made quick work of the Vulcan hitters, striking out three of the four batters he saw for his 9
th save of the season.
The Sea Lions' hot bats were on display all series, but in-game four, Hilo's Aaron Davies silenced them. He offered Point Loma a hefty dose of sweeping breaking balls that left them off balance all afternoon.
It took a couple of innings for things to get going in game four, but the Vulcans eventually got to PLNU's Jack Gonzalez in the top of the third with a sac bunt that brought home the first run of the game. Hilo played small ball against Gonzalez all afternoon, consistently peppering balls around the field while Gonzalez managed to avoid giving up any hard contact.
The Sea Lions put some pressure on Davies in the fifth, finding ways to get two runners on. Davies worked out of the jam and stranded the go-ahead runs on base.
PLNU knocked on the door once more in the sixth, but their comeback efforts were stifled by Davies and Hilo's closer John Kea.
Gonzalez returned to the mound in the seventh hoping to keep the Vulcans scoreless for a fourth straight inning, but Casey Yamauchi's fourth hit, and third double of the contest, scored Hilo's second run giving the Vulcans some much-needed insurance.
Point Loma couldn't build up one final rally against Kea in the seven-inning game to conclude their series at home. They finished 3-1 against Hilo this weekend, out-scoring the Vulcans 24-4.
The Sea Lions' final two home games will be played against Concordia Irvine on Thursday, April 28th at noon and 3:00 p.m at Carroll B. Land Stadium. Senior Day festivities will begin at 11:45 am, prior to game 1 of the doubleheader.
