HILO, Hawai'i. – The Vulcan of Hawaii-Hilo took two of the first four matchups in walk-off fashion twice against Azusa Pacific before Casey Spencer delivered another masterclass on the mound Friday night .

Game 1: In the opening game, APU's David Hays and Hilo's Logan Groff kicked the series off with a thrilling pitcher's duel. Both aces were given one-run from their lineup to work with and combined for over 12 strikeouts well into the eighth inning.

After Gabe Jacobs took over with one out to go in the eighth, the Cougars looked for the redshirt freshman to hold the line as they looked for answers on offense.

It threatened to swing the game in favor of the visitors in the top of the ninth putting two runners on, but the Vulcans carefully escaped unscathed.

Meanwhile on the mound Jacobs was nearly unhittable in the ensuing bottom half as he fanned the last two batters en route to a career-high five strikeout outing.

In extra innings, APU had its best shot to break the deadlock with an early single from Antonio Lujan who was then pinch run for by Blake Haggerty. Jacob Hayes then caused chaos forcing an error after hitting a single to the shortstop, but Hilo was able to catch Haggerty at the plate just in time to escape another jam.

The Vulcans then carefully loaded the bases and were rewarded for their patience winning on a walk-off walk.
 
Game 2: In game two, they jumped out to an early 3-0 lead across the first two frames. Elijah Cook and Mikey Easter both drove in runs via a walk and a sacrifice fly while Lujan turned heads with his seventh homer of the season over the right field fence.

The Vulcans quickly erased the deficit during their next two trips to the plate making it a 3-3 ballgame headed into the fourth.

Cook once again broke the tie for APU with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth, but Hilo once again countered with a RBI single in the bottom of the seventh setting the game up for a dramatic finish.

The Cougars once again had Hilo in a tight spot putting two runners on base with two outs, and like just the first game, the home squad returned to the dugout without any damage. Before APU could find an answer in extra innings, the Vulcans found another win this time off a called balk with the bases loaded.

Game 3: Any frustrations from the first two setbacks were evidently expressed by Casey Spencer's dominance on the mound in the seven-inning game three.

After tossing a gem against Vanguard, the junior followed up his best outing in a Azusa Pacific uniform with a masterclass in Jimmy Wong Stadium.

Not only did Spencer go the distance, he shutdown the Vulcan's lineup allowing no runs on six hits with five strikeouts.

Meanwhile the emerging ace got insurance off a three-hit day from Diego Frey and an RBI single from Will Medina to cruise to 2-0 win.


Inside the Box Score
- The APU pitching staff held the Vulcans' lineup to 25/96 (.260 average) in the first three game of the series
- Luke Denos, Frey, and Hayes would collect multi-hit outings across the three games.

Game Notes
-  Frey has reached safely in the last 7 games and is on a five game hitting-streak.

Up Next
The Cougars will be back in action for game four against UHH starting at 6PM (HST).