WAIPAHU, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Pacific University opened the PacWest Conference play with a doubleheader split against league newcomer Biola on Saturday at Hans L'Orange Park.
 
The Sharks (7-3, 1-1) fell to the Eagles (7-3, 1-1) in the first game 4-3, but came back to win the nightcap 3-1.
 
"It's an old cliché, but both games came down to timely hitting and timely defense," said HPU head coach Garett Yukumoto. "We didn't convert the chances we had in the first game, but came through at the right time in the second. The pitching was also great in the second game."
 
Junior lefthander Marc Sauceda of Temecula Calif./Chaparral improved his record to 2-0 with the second game win, going 5.2 innings while allowing one run on five hits and striking out six with two walks. Sophomore righthander Evan Spitzer of Mesa, Ariz./Desert Ridge worked a hitless inning, and junior righthander Joshua Savea of Gold River, Calif./Rio Americana collected his second save going 2.1 innings with no runs on three hits and three strikeouts.
 
Redshirt freshman third baseman Micah Layosa of Lihue, Hawai'i/Kauai was 3-for-4 with two RBI in the second game, as junior leftfielder Jordan Mopas of Ewa Beach, Hawai'i/St. Louis, was 3-for-8 with a run scored in both games. Senior infielder Wyatt Hoppie of Orange, Calif./Villa Park was 4-for-8 with two runs scored and an RBI for the day.
 
HPU had a 2-1 lead after four thanks to a fourth inning RBI single by Hoppie and an RBI groundout from senior catcher Kreston Woods of Tempe, Ariz./DeNiza. But the Eagles answered with a three-run fifth, thanks to a one-out triple from Joey Magro, followed by an RBI double from Colton Worthington. Then a walk, a hit batsman and a two-RBI single from Anj Bourgeois put BU up 4-2.
 
HPU rallied in the bottom of the ninth with a double from Hoppie and a pinch hit RBI single from senior Froy Smith of Kaneohe, Hawai'i/Castle. But with two on and two out junior Tanner Tokunaga of Pearl City, Hawai'i/Pearl City was hit with a pitch as he swung at strike three and was called out to end the game.
 
Junior righthander Tyler Van Stone of Henderson, Nev./Foothill (1-2) took the loss allowing all four runs in 4.2 innings on five hits with a strikeout and three walks. Senior righty Evan-Thomas May worked 3.1 innings of scoreless ball allowing three hits with three strikeouts, and junior Jordan Gesling of Lennox, S.D./Roosevelt finished with an inning of no-hit action.
 
Game two was a pitchers dual with Sauceda making one bad pitch in the third and Biola's Worthington deposited it over the left centerfield fence for a 1-0 lead. That stood until the bottom of the fourth when Mopas, who led off the inning with a double down the left field line, and scored on a ground out by Smith. Layosa followed with an RBI double down the right field line to bring home Hoppie.
 
HPU added an insurance run in the sixth when Smith doubled to left, moved to third on an errant pickoff throw by BU starter Troy Stainbrook, and scored on Layosa's single down the left field line.
 
The Eagles had two runners aboard in the seventh and ninth innings, but the Sharks shutdown the rally and held Biola without a run.
 
The teams take Sunday off before meeting in a doubleheader on Monday to close the four-game PacWest series. First pitch at Hans L'Orange is at 4 p.m.