HILO, Hawai'i — Fighting the stormy Hawaiian weather, Concordia Baseball continued its road trip with a four game PacWest series against University of Hawaii at Hilo. The Eagles took the first and last game from the Vulcans but dropped two others for a series split. 

Doubleheader #1: In game one, Morgan Brannock earned the win after throwing two innings from the bump and striking out two Vulcans. Sam Reed received his second save of the season facing the minimum in two innings and striking out three Vulcans. 

The Eagles bats caught fire and put up an eight run seventh inning. The rally started when Bailey Collins doubled down the right field line and Alex DiMascio advanced him to third on a single to right center. Hunter Holland followed with an RBI single to center field that scored Collins. Then, Juan Zuniga got a bunt down and loaded the bases for Dominic Castro. Dimascio scored on a wild pitch and Holland was brought in on a knock by Castro through third base. 

Dillon Millar and Davis Tominaga kept the momentum going with a single a piece. Eagles offense came full circle as Collins entered the box again to hit a three run homer and extend their lead to 9-4. Concordia added one more in the ninth to seal the deal in game one with a 10-7 win. 

Neil Lang headed to the mound for the second game and threw five innings, struck out four Vulcans and allowed four runs. Alex Zalasky came in on relief but Eagles bats fell flat scoring just two runs, not enough against the Vulcans six run effort. The teams split the first doubleheader 1-1, ending the nightcap after midnight. 

Doubleheader #2: A new day brought earlier start times for the Eagles and Vulcans series. After finishing a game in the early morning hours of that same day, the teams took the field for doubleheader number two.

Freshman Will Cohen got the start on Saturday afternoon and pitched through five innings, allowed six runs and received the loss. Haloa Dudoit went 2-for-4 with two RBI's and a walk in game one. Concordia had back-to-back two run innings in the third and fourth but were forced out of the lead by a four run sixth inning for Hilo and dropped the game 6-4. 

The final matchup of the series brought Sam Reed to the mound once again, but this time for the relief of Joshua Ibarra. Reed threw two innings, struck out one Vulcan and received the win for the Eagles three run effort. Jason McLellan earned the save after he faced seven batters, struck out four and secured the win. 

The only three runs of the final game were scored in the third and fifth inning by a strategic Concordia offense. In the third, Holland singled to the pitcher to score Tominaga who got on base from a walk. Then, Holland stole second and was knocked in on a single to centerfield by Zuniga. The Vulcans trailed 2-0. Castro hit an RBI single in the fifth to score pinch-runner Nick Bates and round out the scoring for the nightcap. Eagles took the final game of the series 3-0. 

Up Next: Concordia Baseball returns home on April 20th after a month long stretch of away games. The Eagles are pitted against Fresno Pacific University in a PacWest four game series scheduled to start at 3 p.m.