If a leadoff hitter isn’t supposed to hit for power, then Bobby Carini didn’t get the message.

The junior second baseman blasted his fifth homer of the season and fourth in four games to help the SF State baseball team win the first game of a doubleheader at the Swamp against Hawaii Pacific University on Saturday. The Gators won the first game 6-5 as both teams finished in an 11-11 tie in the nightcap to cap the non-league five-game series.

In the first game, the Gators found themselves down 5-0 after four and a half innings of play. But after Jeff McCall’s RBI-double got SF State on the scoreboard in the bottom half of the fifth, Carini swung the momentum in favor of the Gators (7-24-1).

With two runners on and one out in the sixth, Carini took a 1-0 pitch over the left field wall for a three-run homer to cut the Sea Warriors’ lead to 5-4.

Although Carini has always had a little pop in his bat, this power surge is something new.

“I felt like I’ve always had power, I’m just not a home run hitter,” Carini said. “I usually hit the fence or hit the warning track.”

Although Carini didn’t go deep the rest of the day, he still had another big hit left in him. In the next inning, he tied the game with a two-out RBI-single that scored Conor Buestad. Carini finished the game 2-for-4 with four RBIs and two walks.

“[The pitcher] threw me some off-speed pitches that he just hung and I just got on them.”

With a tied game in the bottom of the ninth and one out, Ryan Hill and Evan Romanchuk hit back-to-back singles and Carini followed with a walk to load the bases. Nick Nyman stepped in and was hit by a pitch from Hawaii Pacific’s BA Garner to force in the winning run.

Aaron Laux relieved starter Matt Edgecombe in the seventh inning and pitched three scoreless innings allowing one hit while striking out two to earn his first win of the year.

Outside of the fifth inning where he gave up three runs on four hits with a walk and two hit batsman, Edgecombe pitched solid for the Gators. Edgecombe pitched six innings allowing five runs on nine hits with three strikeouts to earn the no-decision. Edgecombe finished 2-for-4 at the plate while Buestad went 3-for-5.

The win was the third for SF State in the series and it secured the Gators’ first series win of the season. With the Gators playing well, the team members said they felt confident heading into the rest of the season.

“We got the tougher teams out of the way and hopefully we can just roll with it from here,” Nyman said.

Carini added, “I think we’re a lot better than our record says.”

In the second game, both teams combined for 22 runs and 25 hits in a contest that featured four Sea Warriors’ coaches getting ejected along with SF State head coach Tony Dress for arguing calls.

Once again, SF State fell behind as Hawaii Pacific (23-12-1) scored four runs in the top of the first.

After scoring one in the bottom of the first, SF State struck for four runs in the second highlighted by Evan Romanchuk who led off the inning with a home run over the scoreboard in right field.

The Sea Warriors fought back with four runs in the third, but the Gators countered with four more in the bottom half of the inning. This time it was Nyman who came up with the big hit when connected for a two-run homer, his second of the season. Nyman finished the game 3-for-4 with a double and a homer.

“I was feeling good,” Nyman said. “I was seeing the ball well out of the pitchers hand.”

SF State took a 11-10 lead into the seventh--the last inning in the second game of a doubleheader--but couldn’t hold it as the Sea Warriors scored a run on Gators’ pitcher Ernie Munoz to tie the game. After the Gators failed to score in the bottom half, the game was called due to darkness.

Matt Kavanaugh went 3-for-3 with four RBIs, Matt Memeo went 2-for-4 with an RBI and Munoz finished 2-for-4 with two runs scored for SF State.

SF State travels to Moraga to play St. Mary’s at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.