KAILUA-KONA, Hawaii – On Friday amid wet weather out at Kealakehe High School, Academy of Art fell to UH Hilo in the start of the Urban Knights' final Pacific West Conference series on the Hawaiian Islands. A big second inning led the Vulcans to their 10-1 win in the opener and it was the same frame that UH Hilo struck in the second contest. Their five-run rally set the Vulcans up for a 9-3 victory for the doubleheader sweep.

GAME 1 – UH Hilo 10, ART U 1 (5)
Both teams had lone singles in a scoreless first inning, but the Vulcans would break the game open in the bottom of the second. Four hits including a two-run homer led UH Hilo to seven runs in the frame, but Academy of Art defended against the shutdown inning, scoring in the third. Junior infielder Gracie Sotomayor reached base after being hit by a pitch, promptly stole second, and came in on an error in the outfield after junior outfielder Gabi Hirsch singled.

The Vulcans rallied once again in the fourth, scoring three times to eventually trigger the run-rule and win the series opener 10-5 after the top of the fifth.

GAME 2 – UH Hilo 9, ART U 3
In a bit of déjà vu, each team had one base-runner in the first inning, but the game headed to the second scoreless. The second then saw a five-run push by the Vulcans come on two walks and a triple though all were unearned after an error earlier in the frame.

After UH Hilo made it 6-0 with two singles in the third, sophomore catcher Lauryn Henderson produced with one swing of the bat, driving a two-run homer to center field in the fourth. It was her team-best sixth home run of the year and put her into a tie for second in the PacWest in that category.

"Lauryn is really staying in her zone right now, swinging at her pitches, and focusing on each at-bat to ensure that she gets solid contact," said head coach Alex Gomez. "She's doing great."

Another surge came from the Vulcans in the fifth and they would carry a 9-2 advantage into the late innings. A single from Sotomayor led off the seventh and, after she was bunted to second, Henderson once again came through with a single to plate her teammate. The game, however, would end with UH Hilo on top 9-3.

The Knights drop to 13-14 overall and 9-8 in conference play with the twinbill's results. Henderson, despite having her 13-game hitting streak come to an end with the first game, finished 2-for-3 in the day's finale with the aforementioned home run and three runs batted in. Sotomayor had hits in both games, finishing 2-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base. Senior infielder Brenna Youngquist's two walks in the second contest tied her with Jessica West for the most career walks in program history (72).

UH Hilo, now 27-14 on the year and 20-8 in the PacWest, was led by Isabelle Mejia (10-2) on both sides of the ball as she went 2-for-7 with six RBIs on the day and earned the win in the circle after going 5.0 innings with one run allowed on four hits plus six strikeouts in the opener. Valerie Alvarado (8-5) picked up the victory in the second contest with three runs allowed on five hits, six walks, and one strikeout in 7.0 innings of work.

"We need to be much better on defense," said Gomez. "We struggled with simple plays and outs today that we should have had. Our defense needs to do a better job of backing up the pitchers and our hitters need to execute better."

Academy of Art will conclude its series with UH Hilo as well as its 12-game Hawaii roadtrip tomorrow with a doubleheader once again at Kealakehe High School. First pitch of the opening contest is set for 1 p.m. HT (4 p.m. PT).