Hawaii Pacific baseball team’s successful season took a hit on Wednesday as they lost 5-0 to Concordia Irvine in the first day of the PacWest Conference championships. Despite the setback, the Sharks are still in the competition and determined to fight their way back.
With the loss, HPU now faces a must-win situation for the rest of the tournament, which runs through Saturday. Coach Dane Fujinaka’s team, seeded second with a record of 30-21, will take on Point Loma in an elimination game at 8 a.m. Hawaii time on Friday at Azusa Pacific’s Cougar Baseball Complex. If they emerge victorious, they will have another chance to compete at 4 p.m. that same day.
Concordia Irvine, on the other hand, will face defending champion Azusa Pacific in the winners’ bracket. The winner of the HPU vs. Point Loma game will then go on to face the loser of the CUI vs. Azusa Pacific matchup.
Despite being unable to overcome strong pitching from Jake Covey from CUI who threw a four-hit shutout with eight strikeouts, HPU had an impressive season reaching 30 wins for the first time since 2016 and entering into tournament with six-game winning streak
