HILO, Hawaii – Dixie State kept rolling Thursday behind stellar pitching and timely hitting to finish off a four-game sweep of host Hawai'i Hilo with 9-2 and 5-0 victories at Wong Stadium.
 
Chalk up nine straight victories for the Red Storm, who improve to 9-7 on the season and a spotless 4-0 in PacWest play.
 
GAME ONE
Early offense, once again, was the prevailing theme for Dixie State. A three-run first inning and a five-run third frame was plenty of offensive support for freshman starter Aaron Pope (Chubbuck, ID/Highland).
 
He allowed a first-inning solo home run and one other run-scoring hit in seven strong innings. Pope struck out three on his way to his first collegiate victory (1-1).
 
Offensively, DSU used a pair of UHH errors to score two unearned runs. Donald Glover (Las Vegas, NV/Legacy) had an RBI single while Kevin Kline (Las Vegas, NV/Rancho) and Cam Gust (Riverton, UT/Riverton) each knocked home runs with ground balls.
 
Glover sparked the Storm's big rally in the third innings with a two-run single after Trey Kamachi (Kapolei, HI/Kapolei) led off with a single and Kline follwerd with a double. Zach Watts (West Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) added an RBI single to right and Tanner Morache (Surrey, Canada/Surrey) ended the spurt with a triple down the right field line.
 
Yuto Kata (Chiba, Japan/Juan Diego (Utah)) added a 9^th inning double as extra insurance. Rustin Sveum (Scottsdale, AZ/Desert Mountain) tossed the final two frames for the Storm, allowing two hits and striking out one.
 
Eric Vega took the loss for the Vulcans being tagged for eight run on eight hits in 2.2 innings.
 
GAME TWO
Dylan File (St. George, UT/Desert Hills) was magnificent for the Storm in the seven-inning finale. The freshman allowed just two hits and worked out a jam in his final frame to ensure a clean line.
 
File tossed five shutout innings while fanning four to improve to 1-1 on the season.
 
The DSU offense got on the board in the third inning. Kata walked in a lead off role and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt from Jacob Davison (Taylorsville, UT/Taylorsville) followed by a Zach Watts (West Jordan, UT/Copper Hills) single. Morache provided the RBI swing with a single to right field.
 
Another lead off walk generated the Storm's second run. Kamachi drew the free pass and scored from first base on a Glover double to center field.
 
Gust delivered insurance with a sacrifice fly scoring Kamachi in the sixth inning. Kata followed with a big triple into the right-center field gap to build the lead to five runs.
 
Jeremy Alderman (Cheney, WA/Cheney) threw a scoreless frame in the sixth and Kolton Brost (Monsa, UT/Payson) followed suit with a shutdown frame in the seventh to complete the sweep.
 
Dixie State will travel to Oahu to play Hawai'i Pacific beginning Friday afternoon for a doubleheader at Hans L'Orange Park. First pitch from Waipahu is set for 2 p.m. Hawaiian (6 p.m. Mountain).