Hawaii Pacific continued their hot start with a sweep of APU, with Tejean Smith leading the way with a .667 average. 'Swords pitcher Xavier Stokes stymied the Sunbirds to earn Pitcher of the Week.

2024 Results/Schedule
2024 Standings
2024 Statistics
                    
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Hawai`i Pacific's Tejean Smith, SS, Jr., 5-10, Sacramento, Calif.                            
Hawai`i Pacific's Tejean Smith went 8-for-12 during a four-game sweep of conference preseason favorite Azusa Pacific. The junior shortstop drove in five runs during the series, and had three hits in two of the games. He also walked three times, scored four runs and had a double, triple and a stolen base. His play helped the Sharks improve to 13-4 overall and 5-1 in conference play.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Chaminade's Xavier Stoker, RHP, Jr., 6-2, Cedar Park, Utah                                 
Chaminade earns the Pitcher of the Week certificate for the second consecutive time. Xavier Stoker took the ball in the fourth game of the series against Fresno Pacific and helped guide the Silverswords to a 2-1 win. In seven complete innings he did not allow an earned run and he also fanned eight Sunbird batters. He allowed just four hits, none for extra bases and walked three in recording 102 pitches. Stoker helped the 'Swords, a first-year program, improve to 10-11 overall.  

SHARKS SHOCK COUGARS: The PacWest Team of the Week is the HAWAI`I PACIFIC SHARKS. The red hot Sharks took all four games in a conference series with Azusa Pacific, taking out the team that was the coaches preseason pick to win the PacWest. HPU won by the scores of 7-5, 3-1, 10-5 and finished off the sweep with a 11-0 finisher. Overall, they outscored APU in the series, 31-11. Tejean Smith played a big part at the plate (see POW above) but so did Nick Jio, who went 6-for-13 with two home runs, a double, six runs scored, seven RBI, three walks and a stolen base. Shea Lake pitched six innings of the 11-0 shutout, allowing three hits while striking out five. HPU, under head coach Dane Fujinaka, is now 5-1 in PacWest play and 13-4 overall.

PACWEST HAS 3 OF TOP 5 IN WEST REGION POLL: Point Loma remained on top in this week's NCBWA West Region Baseball poll, but two other conference teams are close by to keep them company. Westmont and Hawai`i Pacific climbed from seventh and ninth respectively into a tie for fourth place, and Concordia joined the pool at No. 9. Here is the list, with records through the weekend. (1) Point Loma 12-5-1, (2) Northwest Nazarene 12-4-1, (3) CS Monterey Bay 10-6, (T4) Westmont 10-6-3 (T4) Hawai`i Pacific 13-4, (6) San Francisco State 10-6, (7) Chico State 8-7, (8) CS East Bay 10-5, (9) Concordia 7-3, (10) CS San Bernardino. RV--Biola, CS San Marcos, Cal Poly Pomona.
 
PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Fresno Pacific and Chaminade split a four-game set, including swapping a pair of one-run verdicts on Saturday in the first ever meeting between the two schools. The Sunbirds rallied back from a five-run deficit to win 10-9 in the first game and then Xavier Stoker pitched the 'Swords to a 2-1 win in the nightcap...Point Loma hosted Westmont for the first time since their Golden State Athletic Conference days, with the Warriors taking the series, 2-1-1. Westmont won the opener 3-1 and the Sea Lions then took the first day nightcap, 7-6. On Saturday, the two teams combined for six home runs in a slugfest eventually taken by Westmont 15-13, and then the two teams played nine innings before darkness prevailed in a 4-4 tie...Biola and Hilo split four games on the Big Island. The Vulcans won the first two games, using a walk-off homer by freshman Mark Fedro for the 7-6 win, and then Matthew O'Brien pitched Hilo to a 2-1 win in the nightcap.  Biola returned the favor on Saturday, with Gilbert Lopez pitching the Eagles to an 8-3 win, allowing just two earned runs in eight innings. Lucas Bixby took the mound in the second game and gave up just one hit in BU's 4-2 win for the split...Hawai`i Hilo also hosted university system big brother Hawai`i Manoa on Wednesday, filling up Wong Stadium with 3,244 fans. The game was tied at 1-1 through five innings before the Rainbow Warriors scored a bunch of runs late for the final count of 15-2. 

THIS WEEK IN THE PACWEST: Four PacWest series are on the slate this week, with three of them taking place on the islands. Hawai`i Pacific will host Fresno Pacific, Chaminade welcomes Azusa Pacific and Hawai`i Hilo hosts Point Loma. On the mainland, Biola and Concordia will split sites for Friday and Saturday doubleheaders.