IRVINE, Calif. -- With warm weather returning to Irvine, Concordia Baseball (10-11, 5-1 PWC) continued its homestand. This time, the Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans (8-11, 6-6 PWC) made the trip for the four-game PacWest series at Eagles Field. CUI split the doubleheader on Saturday, defeating UHH 5-3 in game one and dropping the nightcap 14-6.

Cooper Moore earned two RBI's in todays doubleheader to tie with Jair Donovan at 18 RBIs and four homeruns a piece.  

Matt Lautz went 5-for-7 on the day with a .778 on-base percentage, three singles, one double and a triple. The center fielder stole one base in the first game and two in the nightcap.

"I tried to keep everything simple," Lautz said. "I just went out there, tried to get my pitch, put a good swing on it, and was lucky enough to do that a couple times today."

Game One: Concordia 5, Hawai'i Hilo 3

Hawai'i Hilo was quick to start. The top of the Vulcan batting order added three runs in the first inning from a trio of hits.

After the first inning, junior Brett Vansant held Hilo to zero's in the final eight frames. The right-hander threw nine innings and earned the win, allowed just three runs and struck out four Vulcans.

The Eagles first scoring opportunity came in the fifth. Cooper Moore smacked a triple to the centerfield wall and was scored soon after on a sacrifice fly by Bailey Collins.

Left fielder Dominic Castro bunted for a base hit and stood on first. Castro then took off on a sprint around the diamond when Haloa Dudoit knocked a first pitch RBI triple to the right field wall, Concordia's second triple of the inning. Eagles cut the lead, still trailing 3-2 after five innings.

Concordia defense shortened the sixth inning with a classic 643 ground double-play from Dudoit to Hersh to Collins.

The seventh inning brought up the lower half of the Eagles lineup. Moore was walked and advanced to third on a single up the middle by Collins. With no outs and runners on first and third, Alex DiMascio entered the batters box as a pinch hitter. The redshirt junior came up clutch with a double to centerfield to score Moore and Collins and give the Eagles the go-ahead run needed to secure the win.

"Growing up, my dad always told me to treat every at-bat like a pinch hit, so I didn't try to do too much," DiMascio said. "I was honestly just trying to hit a sac fly to center and it just kept carrying."

Eagles added an insurance run in the eighth. Lautz was hit by the pitch and then scored on Moore's RBI single. After 8.5, Concordia took game one of the doubleheader 5-3.

Game Two: Hawai'i Hilo 14, Concordia 6

Andrew Stout got the start in game two and went 5.2 innings. The scoreboard was clean until the second inning where Hilo continued to spray base hits around the outfield and score one run.

Concordia matched it in the third. Chris Martin III walked and was moved to second on a single to center field by Dudoit. Hilo's infield attempted to turn a double-play on a ball to the second baseman. Dudoit was out at second base but Grimes reached first on a fielder's choice that was overthrown and Martin scored to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.

Lautz struck again in the fourth with a triple to center field. Moore singled to score Lautz and advanced to second on an error. Moore was scored later on a sacrifice fly by Calvin Schonebaum. Collins was walked, moved over to second, stole third, and scored after on an overthrow by the Hawai'i Hilo catcher. Concordia extended its lead to 4-1.

The Vulcans started their comeback in the fifth inning and scored two runs to cut the lead 4-3. CUI added a solo run in the bottom of five and six. Donovan started the inning with a double down the right field line. Moore hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Nick Grimes in the fifth.

In the sixth, Grimes roped an RBI double down left field line to score Martin and round out the scoring for the Eagles.

Hawai'i Hilo notched two four-run innings and two two-run innings before securing the win 14-6 in the nightcap.

Up Next

Concordia Baseball continues to host Hawai'i Hilo in the final two games of the four game series on Monday March 18th. Game one is slated to start at Noon and game two at 2 p.m. Follow the action HERE.