HILO, Hawai'i. – On Azusa Pacific's first day of play in Hilo, the Cougars secured the 8-6 victory in the first game before being shutout in the second game 8-0 against the Vulcans. 

GAME ONE: AZUSA PACIFIC 8, Hawaii Hilo 6

Both offenses started off cold as the game was scoreless entering the third. That is when the Cougars began rallying for some runs led by Izzy Rivera hitting a one out RBI single that scored Kinsey Erickson.

A few batters later with the bases loaded, Mia Alvarez delivered a bases clearing triple to put the Cougars up 4-0. Hawai'i Hilo would match the Cougars four runs in the bottom half of third to tie the game.

In the top of fourth, after a one out walk from Erickson and a follow up single by Ally Chin, Bella Fraser would double to give the Cougars the lead again at 5-4. The rally would continue with runners on second and third for Rivera who delivered once again, hitting a sac fly to bring across another run. Katie Korstrom would later single scoring in one more run as the Cougars took a 7-4 lead.

The Vulcans would tack on a run in the bottom half of the fourth to close the lead 7-5. In the top of the sixth inning, all with two outs the Cougars would add one more run with an RBI single from Alvarez which would score Korstrom making it 8-5. Hawaii Hilo would add a run in bottom of the sixth to close the lead again 8-6.

Liz Phillips came in on relief of Korstrom and was spectacular, throwing the final four innings while only allowing three hits, one run and striking out one to earn the win.

GAME TWO: Azusa Pacific 0 , Hawai'i Hilo 8

In game two, the Cougars were blanked as they saw the Vulcans revenge their earlier loss in game one. Hawai'i Hilo got on the board early, scoring one in the first and four in the second.

The Vulcans would later score three more runs in the fifth to take a 8-0 lead, which ended the game in five innings. The Cougars struggled to produce any runs as a team and were limited to only three hits courtesy of Jaelah Burrell, Alvarez and Fraser. Defensively, the Cougars made four errors in the game. 

By the Numbers: Offensively, the Cougars finished with 11 hits at the plate including three extra base hits. Leading the way for the Cougars with a multi-hit game in the victory was Alvarez, Fraser, and Korstrom. Alvarez and Rivera accounted for six RBI in the first game as well. On the field, Azusa Pacific made six errors over the two games today compared to the Vulcans one. 

Up Next: The Cougars will look to win the series when they face off against Hawai'i Hilo again tomorrow to wrap up play on the islands. First pitch of game one is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. (HT) | 2:00 p.m. (PT) and game two will follow approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.