HILO, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Pacific University allowed Hawai'i Hilo a three-run sixth inning as UH Hilo took a 6-3 victory in the 2020 season and PacWest Conference opener on Friday night at Wong Stadium.
 
The Sharks (0-1, 0-1) held a 3-2 lead entering the sixth when the Vulcans (1-0, 1-0) got a home run to tie the game and then scored two unearned runs to break the game open.
 
HPU was paced offensively by newcomer Braxton Wehrle, a junior rightfielder of Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman, who was 2-for-5 with a double, and junior third baseman Micah Layosa of Lihue, Hawai'i/Lihue going 1-for-5 with a triple and two runs scored.
 
Sophomore righthander Sean Adams (0-1) of Honolulu/Mid-Pacific Institute took the loss, allowing five runs, four earned, on six hits with six strikeouts and three walks in 5.1 innings. Freshman righty Daniel Cortez of Diamond Bar, Calif./Diamond Ranch, threw an inning and a third allowing a run on one hit with a strikeout and walk, while senior lefthander Jake Selco of West Hills, Calif./El Camino Real finished the contest with an inning and a third of scoreless pitching, with a hit, a strikeout and walk.
 
Christian Sadler (1-0) got the win in relief for the Vulcans, allowing a run and a hit in four innings with four strikeouts and a walk. Starter Kyle Alcorn left after three innings after allowing two runs on five hits with four strikeouts. Brandyn Lee-Lehano allowed two hits with three strikeouts in an inning, while John Kea struck out the side in his one inning to pick up his first save of the season.
 
The Vulcans got on the board in the first inning on a wild pitch, but the Sharks followed with runs in the second and third for the lead.
 
HPU tied the game on an RBI ground-rule double from newcomer junior shortstop Nicholas Jio of San Diego/Scripps Ranch. The Sharks took the lead in the third on senior first baseman Jared Bannister of San Ramon, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd whose RBI single plated Layosa after his triple for a 2-1 lead.
 
The Vulcans tied the game in the fourth, only to have HPU go back up 3-2 in the fifth on a Layosa sacrifice fly.
 
But in the bottom of the sixth, UHH tied the game when hit Adams' first offering out of the park. After a single and walk, Adams was lifted for Cortez, only to have the Sharks commit two errors allowing two runs to score for a 5-3 lead. The Vulcans added another run in the seventh on a bases-loaded hit by pitch for the 6-3 score.
 
The teams play a twin-bill on Saturday, with the first contest a PacWest game. The second game is a non-conference affair. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Wong Stadium.