MEDIA RELEASE

Small things added up to big trouble for the University of Hawaii at Hilo baseball team as they dropped the final game of a six-game series with Northwest Nazarene University 12-7 at Wong Stadium.

The loss created a series split for the teams as both exit with 3-3 records.

The Vulcan offense showed it still had the punch to come back. With two outs and down by nine runs in the eighth, the Vulcans exploded for five runs. Even after freshman outfielder Arlie Johnson’s 3-run homerun cleared the bases, the Vulcans loaded the bases for freshman infielder Michael Dietrich’s two-run single.

Another two-out rally seemed on the way after Cody Barrett’s double in the ninth. But that ended when the Crusader pitcher snagged a line drive.

But while the offense was able to score late, events earlier in the game left the Vulcans behind. Among the items were 14 stranded baserunners, seven walks, three wild pitches, four hit batters and an error.

“Being the last game of the series our focus was not where it should be,” UHH head coach Joey Estrella said. “I thought we had relatively close games. We needed to focus better on the things that were going to score runs because we haven’t been playing well defensively.

“When we had scoring opportunities early in the game and didn’t score, you’re not doing the things that are necessary to win games.”

Score by Innings                    R  H  E
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Northwest Nazarene.. 000 103 341 - 12 12  1
Hawaii Hilo......... 000 010 150 -  7 12  1
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Win – Sneed (1-1). Loss – Nakasone, M. (0-1). Save – None. WP – Nakasone, M.; Hackney, P. 2. HBP – by Koizumi, C. (Uvila); by Koizumi, C. (VanBeek); by Hackney, P. (Louie); by Hackney, P. (VanBeek). Umpires – HP: Bob Simmons 1B: Jerry Coloma 3B: Bobby Yamada
Start: 6:00 pm Time: Attendance: 134