Big Innings Highlight Baseball Split at UH Hilo

HILO, Hawai'i – Fans attending Saturday's Pacific West Conference baseball doubleheader against Chaminade University and the University of Hawai'i Hilo at Wong Stadium should check to see if they still have their fingernails intact.
 
The Silverswords and Vulcans split their twin bill on the Big Island with Chaminade taking the matinee, 6-4 in 11 innings, while UH Hilo took the seven-inning nightcap in a slugfest, 11-10.
 
In both instances, the 'Swords were up big before the Vulcans rallied. In Game 1, Chaminade saw a 4-0 advantage in the bottom of the ninth evaporate before getting the go-ahead run in the top of the 11th inning, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Cato Kleinman (Westlake Village, Calif./Monterey Peninsula College/Westlake HS).
 
In the second game, the 'Swords failed to protect a 7-0 lead in the first as the Vulcans mounted an epic comeback thanks to nine combined runs in the third and fourth innings.
 
Saturday's split left the Silverswords at 15-28 on the season and 8-20 in the PacWest. The Vulcans are 17-27 and 10-20 in the conference. Both teams earned two points in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge. Saturday was also the final meeting this season between the two squads with UH Hilo winning the season series, 5-to-4. Seven of the meetings were decided by two runs or less.
 
 
Game 1: CUH 6, UHH 4 (11 inn.)
It didn't take the 'Swords long to plate their first run, thanks to JT Navyac's (Kailua, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Cal State Fullerton/Saint Louis HS) RBI single.
 
Pitching dominated until the sixth when Chaminade scored two runs as Aydan Lobetos (Ewa Beach, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama) came in on an error followed by an Andrew Karns (Coeur d'Alene, Idaho/Coeur d'Alene) RBI double.
 
The 'Swords tacked on what appeared to be an insurance run in the eighth when Lobetos led off the frame with his second homer of the season, giving them a 4-0 lead, headed to the home ninth.
 
But UH Hilo, down to its final out, got a two-run base hit then Chris Varljen played hero, tying the game on a two-run homer, sending the game to extra innings.
 
A CUH double play to finish the 10th provided some spark in the 11th, loading the bases before Kleinman lofted the go-ahead sacrifice fly, putting Chaminade up, 5-4. After a pitching change, Brayden Braga (San Ramon, Calif./Dougherty Valley) singled in a run to give Chaminade a 6-4 cushion.
 
Zac Brown (Tustin, Calif./Mater Dei), who came in from the pen in the ninth, retired three of the four batters he faced in the 11th to secure his third win of the season. Karns and Haruki Kitazaki (Fukuoka, Japan/Northwestern Oklahoma State/Jiyugaoka HS) each had two of Chaminade's 10 hits in the game.
 
Jake Liberta took the loss to fall to 2-2.
 
Game 2: UHH 11, CUH 10
The 'Swords' stunned the Wong Stadium crowd with a seven-spot before the Vulcans could even get an at bat. The first five batters reached with Kleinman scoring on an error while Lobetos was beaned with the bases loaded before an out was recorded. Evon Williams (San Ramon, Calif./Dougherty Valley) kept the parade going with an RBI ground out and Braga made it 4-0, scoring on a wild pitch.
 
The 'Swords weren't done as Kleinman's second at-bat of the inning resulted in a two-run single, pushing their lead to 6-0. Jaren Banis' (Wahiawa, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama) RBI knock made it 7-0 before UH Hilo finally closed out the frame. In all, 12 Silverswords came to the plate with the seven runs being their most in a single inning this season.
 
UH Hilo got single runs in its half of the first and another in the second before exploding for five more in the third, which knotted the game at 7. A bases-loaded walk and two hit batters with the bases loaded accounted for three of the Vulcans' runs while the other two came in on a CUH error.
 
Navyac and Lobetos put Chaminade ahead, 9-7, on back-to-back RBI hits in the top of the fourth only to see UH Hilo score four times in its half of the inning. Three came on a wild pitch, a balk and an error.
 
Casey Kudell (Irvine, Calif./Irvine Valley College/Irvine HS) got the 'Swords to within 11-10 in the sixth when he was plunked with the bases loaded – the eighth hit batter of the game, six painfully taken by the Silverswords.
 
Down by a run, the 'Swords were retired in order in the seventh to end the slugfest.
 
Banis had three of Chaminade's nine hits while Kleinman, Navyac and Lobetos each drove in a pair of runs. Mac Zawistoski (Coto de Caza, Calif./JSerra Catholic) was charged with the loss.
 
The Vulcans had 11 hits while Cody Hirata picked up his first win of the year and John Navarro earned his second save.
 
The Silverswords will step out of PacWest action for the final time on Tuesday with a non-conference meeting with the University of Hawai'i, the first-ever meeting against their Division I neighbors who are right down the street for the Chaminade campus.
 
First pitch is set for 6:35 p.m. The game will be televised locally by Spectrum Sports while mainland viewers can view the game via pay-per-view on the ESPN+.