TENNIS

Field set for PacWest championships

The season isn’t over but the current standings allow for the PacWest to know which eight teams have qualified for the men’s and women’s conference tournaments April 17-19 in Surprise, Ariz.

The women’s tournament features seven of the top 10 teams in the ITA West Region rankings as of March 19, including No. 1 BYU-Hawaii and No. 2 Hawaii Pacific. Also ranked from the conference are No. 3 Azusa Pacific, No. 4 Academy of Art, No. 7 Point Loma, No. 8 Fresno Pacific and No. 10 Dominican.

Nationally as of March 26, the Seasiders are No. 3 and the Sea Warriors No. 4.

On Monday, BYU-Hawaii improved to 22-0 when dispatching Chaminade 9-0 at the BYUH courts. The Seasiders host the Sea Warriors Tuesday at 2 p.m. in a battle of top-four teams.

With only eight men’s teams competing in the conference, all eight advance to the tournament, including top-ranked Hawaii Pacific.

Other ranked PacWest teams are No. 2 Fresno Pacific, No. 3 Azusa Pacific, No. 5 BYU-Hawaii, No. 7 Point Loma, No. 8 Holy Names and No. 9 Hawaii Hilo.

Nationally, the Sea Warriors are No. 3 and the Seasiders No. 22.

BASEBALL

HPU’s Nakasato co-player of the week

Hawaii Pacific junior left fielder Derek Nakasato led the Sea Warriors to six wins over Hawaii Hilo last week, earning him co-player of the week from the PacWest

The Saint Louis School product hit .444 (12-for-27) with seven runs scored and 12 RBIs. Nakasato had a hit in all six games, with four multi-hit performances, extending his hitting streak to 31 games as HPU extended its win streak to eight.

In the opening doubleheader with the Vulcans, he was 6-for-10 with two triples and drove in eight of the Sea Warriors’ 25 runs. Nakasato ranks second in the conference in hits (57) and RBIs (37), and is third in batting average (.388).

He shared the weekly honor with Dixie State’s Kris Kaplan.

Newcomer honors to HPU’s Williams

Wyndham Williams, a junior right-hander for Hawaii Pacific, was named the newcomer of the week for his performances in three victories against Hawaii Hilo.

The transfer from Colorado Northwestern Community College earned two wins and a save in three relief appearances against the Vulcans, with a 1.69 ERA and one earned run in 51⁄3 innings. He earned the save in the 4-3 victory when retiring the side in the the ninth, including one strikeout.

Williams was the winning pitcher in the next two games, keeping HPU close to record a pair of comeback victories. He allowed just one earned run in 4 1⁄3 total innings as the Sea Warriors rallied to win 5-4 and 11-10 in 10 innings.

SOCCER

HPU signs 2 transfers

Hawaii Pacific men’s soccer coach Chris Fisher has signed two junior transfers to play next season in NJCAA All-American Ryo Sugihara and Jackson Grove from Oregon State.

Sugihara, from Tokyo, was the ACCAC player of the year last season for Phoenix College, which competes in the All-Arizona Community College Athletic Conference.

Groves, from Australia, played in 18 matches for the Beavers, starting 11. The midfielder scored one goal with one assist.

GOLF

Morihiro leads UH Hilo at Sonoma State

Erika Morihiro shot a 3-over 75 to lead Hawaii Hilo after the first round of the Sonoma State Women’s Spring Invitational at Foxtail Golf Club in Rohnert Park, Calif.

Morihiro is tied with three other golfers for third place, five strokes behind leader Andrea Castellanos of Cal State East Bay.

As a team, Hilo’s 320 has it in fourth place behind leader East Bay (303), Sonoma State (312) and Cal State Monterey Bay (318).