WAIPAHU - The Hawaii Pacific University baseball team wrapped up their 2023 campaign Sunday afternoon, celebrating Senior Day in one more battle against the University of Hawaii-Hilo at the Central Oahu Regional Park. 
 
The Sharks (20-27, 14-17 PacWest) and Vulcans (25-19, 13-16 PacWest) fought until the very end, making sure all of their seniors got some work in. UHH eventually took the final game of the season 5-4 over HPU. 

Hawaii Pacific celebrated 14 seniors on Sunday. Cole Kashimoto, Douglas Zolezzi, Nicholas Jio, D.J. Stephens, Turner Jamieson, Markus Ramos, Jake De Fiore, Shane Adams, Edward Lee, Daniel Cortez, Andrew Hauck, Erik Peterson, Jonathan Lucio, and Richard Higa were all recognized for their leadership, work ethic, and impact they had on the Hawaii Pacific baseball program. 

Hilo struck big in the first inning, off the bat of one of their own seniors, Ryan Cho. Cho took the second pitch he saw and sent it over the left field fence to put the Vulcans on the board.  

Hawaii Pacific got their response in the third. After surrendering two outs, Cole Kashimoto cranked a double into the right center gap, before advancing to third on an errant throw by the UHH defense. Kota Suzuki then shot a rocket towards first base, the ball deflected off the first baseman's glove, allowing Suzuki to reach and Kashimoto to tie the game up. 

Moving to the sixth, the Vulcans used some solid hitting to regain the lead, scoring three runs.

Yet, the Sharks were not going to give in too easily. Kashimoto once again reached base, this time on a hit-by-pitch. He eventually made it to third base on two ground outs. A wild pitch saw Kashimoto make a break for the plate, scoring a second run for HPU. 

Then in the eighth, as he did in his previous at-bats, Kashimoto got on board with a leadoff single. He stole second, before crossing home plate for a third time off the back of two very long flyouts. 

Hilo struck again in the ninth. Senior Casey Yamauchi cranked a big double to give the Vulcans a 5-3 lead going into the final half inning of the season. 

Tejean Smith did make the ending interesting, smoking his second home run of the year over the left field fence. But, UHH held on for the 5-4 victory in the season finale. 

Kashimoto led the way offensively, scoring three of HPU's four runs. Meanwhile, Suzuki, Higa, and Smith were rewarded with an RBI each. On the mound, the 11 Shark pitchers struck out seven Vulcan batters. 

Despite the result, the Sharks enjoyed every minute of the game. They made sure to get all 14 seniors out on the field today, except for Erik Peterson, who had the four inning save in last night's game. Some of the highlights from the seniors today included: 

• Turner Jamieson: A position player turned pitcher in his final season of collegiate baseball, earning his first career strikeout in the first inning. 
• Second baseman Nicholas Jio made an incredible jumping catch, while third baseman Douglas Zolezzi made a diving play, both robbing extra-base hits. 
• Jake De Fiore made his first appearance of the season, and was two pitches away from an immaculate inning. He, alongside Markus Ramos, Daniel Cortez, and Shane Adams pitched scoreless innings. 
• Andrew Hauck, who threw a 142 pitch complete game on Friday, recorded the final defensive out of the season in center field. 
• Every senior pitcher got to exchange hugs with their teammates as they exited the mound, while the position players were able to bid farewell to the diamond in the middle of the ninth inning thanks to coach Dane Fujinaka subbing them out. 

Up Next 

The season has concluded for the Hawaii Pacific baseball team.  They finished the regular season with a (20-27, 14-17 PacWest) record. 

As for the PacWest, Point Loma Nazarene, Azusa Pacific, Fresno Pacific and Holy Names will battle it out for the title in Fresno, California, starting on May 10.