WAIPAHU, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Pacific University suffered a ninth inning meltdown as Azusa Pacific scored seven runs in the final frame to take the PacWest Conference contest 12-5 on Friday night at Hans L'Orange Park.
 
The Sharks (5-6, 1-3) and Cougars (6-8, 1-3) were knotted at 5-5 going into the last inning before APU erupted to win its first PacWest game of the season.
 
Senior first baseman Jered Bannister of San Ramon, Calif./Bishop O'Dowd led the Sharks offensively, going 2-for-3 with a double and two RBI. Junior rightfielder Braxton Wehrle of Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman was 2-for-5 with an RBI.
 
The loss spoiled an excellent performance in relief by junior righthander Brandon Peterson of Stockton, Calif./Excel Academy who allowed two unearned runs on four hits and struck out seven Cougars in six innings without a walk. He followed freshman staring righthander Daniel Cortez of Diamond Bar, Calif./Diamond Ranch, who allowed three runs, two earned, on two hits with three walks and a strikeout in two innings. Junior righty Zack McHone (0-1) of Bakersfield, Calif./Liberty Hill was charged with three runs on two hits with a walk while facing three batters without an out in the ninth.
 
The Sharks allowed Azusa to plate three runs in the first inning on a pair of leadoff walks that scored on a two-RBI single with an error that allowed another run to score on the play.
 
HPU scored once in the third on a Bannister RBI single for a 3-1 APU lead.
 
In the seventh, the Sharks took advantage of a fielding error to set up a big inning. Senior third baseman Joe Gallagher of Sacramento, Calif./Del Campo tallied an RBI single, Bannister followed with an RBI double down the right field line, and Wehrle added an RBI single to give the Sharks a 4-3 lead.
 
It would be short lived, as APU took advantage of a one-out error to set up Brett Soria's two-RBI single for the 5-4 lead in the top of the eighth.
 
The Sharks tied it up in the bottom of the eighth, getting a leadoff walk by freshman left fielder Cole Kashimoto of Kaneohe, Hawai'i/Saint Louis School followed by an RBI double from freshman shortstop Nicholas Jio of San Diego/Scripps Ranch to tie the contest at 5-all.
 
The horrendous ninth came when the Cougars got a leadoff walk and two bunt singles to load the bases with no out to set up an RBI walk and a two RBI double by Nick Estrella to break the tie. APU added another RBI walk, a two RBI single, and a sacrifice fly to collect seven runs and the win.
 
Starter Joe wills went four innings allowing a run on three hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Tripp Aversa allowed three runs, two earned on two hits with three strikeouts in 2.1 innings. Declan Kearney hurled 1.1 innings allowing a run on two hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Korey Shepard (1-0) was credited for the win in retiring the only batter he faced and being the pitcher of record in the ninth during the big inning for the Cougars. Kenneth Pettibone shut down HPU 1-2-3 in the ninth.
 
The teams close their four-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 1
p.m. at Hans L'Orange Park.