HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University saw its five-game win streak and its season come to an end on Saturday afternoon with a 6-4 PacWest Conference loss to Hawai'i Hilo at Les Murakami Stadium.
 
The Sharks (9-17, 9-13) still closed the season by winning seven of their last nine contests. The Vulcans (13-12, 13-9) won the PacWest Hawai'i Pod with the victory and will advance to the PacWest AQ Pod Series next Thursday-Saturday at Azusa Pacific.
 
The contest saw both teams have leads and was tied going into the final three innings before being decided.
 
HPU was led at the plate by senior designated hitter Micah Layosa of Lihue, Hawai'i/Kauai, who closed his career going 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs. Freshman first baseman Noah Blythe of Santa Clarita, Calif./Canyon also went 2-for-5 at the plate.
 
UH Hilo's Chris Aubort went 3-for-5 with two RBIs, and Trey Yukumoto was 2-for-6 with two RBIs for the Vulcans.
 
HPU senior reliever Grant Dragmire (0-3) of Elk Grove, Calif./Bradshaw Christian, got the hard luck loss. Normally a closer, he came in to end a threat in the fifth and threw an extended 2.1 innings. The extra time saw him give up two runs on three hits with a walk and two hit batsmen to go with three strikeouts. Freshman starter Max Beaulieu allowed three runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 3.2 innings. Sophomore Stone Parker of Kailua, Hawai'i/Kailua faced seven batters in a third of an inning allowing three hits and two walks with a strikeout. Freshman reliever Gavin Pringle of Duncan, British Columbia, Canada/Cowichan Secondary cleaned up with an inning of no-hit ball, collecting a strikeout.
 
Pringle completed his freshman season with seven shutout innings in his last four appearances, allowing three hits and striking out nine.
 
The three hour-and-41 minute contest looked good for the Sharks early.
 
Junior centerfielder Diego Harris of Los Angeles, Calif./Crespi led off the bottom of the first with a single on the first pitch and Layosa followed with his fifth career home run two pitches later as HPU took a 2-0 lead.
 
The Sharks got out of jams in the next two innings, but a fateful fourth awaited.
 
UH Hilo posted two quick outs in the top of the fourth. The second out was on a bang-bang play at first where Brandon Yoshida was called out. UHH head coach Kallen Miyataki argued too violently and was ejected from the game, stirring up the Vulcans. After a double, Yukumoto smashed a ball over the fence down the right field line that was curving and was called foul. That brought the coaching staff out to argue again and fired up Hilo. Yukumoto followed with an RBI single to start a two-out rally. UHH added three more singles that plated two more runs to give the Vulcans a 3-2 lead.
 
HPU answered with a run in the fifth, after Harris was hit by a pitch and was moved to third with a single and sacrifice, he tied the game at 3-3 on a wild pitch.
 
The Vulcans broke the tie in the seventh after loading the bases on two hit batsmen and a single, Aubort lofted a sacrifice fly for the lead, then Kanbara scored on a wild pitch to give UH Hilo a 5-3 lead.
 
HPU cut to one at 5-4 thanks to a sacrifice fly from junior Joe Gallagher of Sacramento, Calif./Del Campo.
 
The Vulcans got the run back in the top of the eighth on an RBI single by Yukumoto for the 6-4 lead and held on through the eighth and ninth for the win.
 
The Vulcans used six pitchers in the contest, with reliever Takashi Umino (1-0) gaining his first win of the season, allowing a run on two hits with a walk and five strikeouts in 2.2 innings. John Kea collected his fifth save of the year allowing one hit with a strikeout in one inning.
 
With the win by UH Hilo to clinch the pod title, the remainder of the scheduled games this weekend between the teams were canceled.