Article Courtesy of The Master's College Sports Information

03/21/09

Mr. Anderson The Winning Matrix for the Lions

Anderson leads VU with a 5-2 record

Vanguard's Michael Anderson drove in three runs in the opener and tossed a complete game in the nightcap as the visiting Lions swept The Master's College Saturday afternoon, upsetting the No. 15 Mustangs 10-9 and 4-3.

For the second time in three weekends, the Mustangs were swept and with it dropped into third place in the GSAC at 12-6 (22-9 overall). They trail second-place Pt. Loma Nazarene by one game and front-running Azusa Pacific by two games.

Two of Anderson's three, first-game rbi came in the first inning when the Lions drilled Mustang starter Tim Woodward for six runs on a like number of hits. Derek Craddock also added a two-run single as the Lions handed the Mustang ace his worst inning of the season.

But, Woodward recovered and his pitching over the next five innings gave his teammates a chance to not only get back in the game but have a realistic shot at an improbable win.

The comeback started in the second when the Mustangs scored twice. Caleb Mintz led off with a single and was joined on the bases two outs later by Ben Ives, who walked and then stole second, and Joe Chavarria who was hit by a pitch. Hot-hitting Michael Bando then delivered, slicing a two-run single to left field, making it 6-2.

An inning later, they halved the deficit when Eric Blackwell hit a one-double to left field and scored on Mintz' single to center.

Following a scoreless fourth inning, the comeback came full circle in the fifth as the Mustangs exploded for five runs on six hits to push in front 8-6. Joe Zeller provided the first big blow, a two-run homer to left field, and Ives capped off the rally with a bases-clearing double to center field.

With Woodward retiring 15 of 16 Lions in one stretch, that two-run advantage looked very safe and when the Mustangs added another run in the sixth it appeared that a victory was secure.

That sixth-inning tally involved the trio of Zeller, Blackwell, and Mintz. With one out, Zeller doubled to left field and moved to third on Blackwell's base hit to center. Mintz then followed with a grounder to shortstop and Zeller crossed the plate for a 9-6 lead.

But, the Lions started to nibble away at the deficit, nicking Woodward for a run in the seventh, his final inning of work.

Still, that two-run lead looked very good especially when TMC Coach Monte Brooks handed the ball to closer David Goodenough in the eighth inning. The junior righthander had been superb in six relief appearances and carried a stellar 1.80 earned-run average.

That didn't seem to impress the Lions who cobbled together a run on two hits in the eighth, pulling to within 9-8. Then in the ninth they completed a comeback of their own, scoring two runs off Goodenough to push ahead 10-9.

The Mustangs had one last shot and they almost pulled it off. One-out singles by Mintz and Jonathan Schultz put two runners aboard but Lion reliever Richard Jessup retired Tyler Diamond and Ives on consecutive flyouts to preserve the win.

The Mustangs banged out 14 hits in the loss with Mintz collecting four of those while Zeller and Blackwell had two apiece. Goodenough absorbed his first loss of the season and fell to 3-1.

In the nightcap, the Mustangs scored a run in each of their first three at-bats, giving starter Joe Zeller a 3-0 cushion to work with.

Jared Otto led off the bottom of the first with a base hit, moved up 90 feet on a Pete Goeman sacrifice and scored on Zeller's single.

In the second, Diamond made it a 2-0 lead with one swing of the bat, powering his sixth home run of the season over the fence in left field.

The advantage grew to three runs an inning later when Mintz singled in Goeman who had reached on a fielder's choice and was on second following a Blackwell base hit.

Zeller, who blanked the Lions through the first three frames, wasn't real sharp during that span and the Lions made him pay in the fourth, erupting for four runs and Anderson helped his own cause with a solo homer.

Incredibly, those were the final runs on an afternoon when they were quite abundant. After giving up those single runs in each of the first three innings, Anderson was downright stingy the rest of the way, allowing no hits and just one baserunner over the final four frames. He finished things off in style, striking out the side in the seventh to gain his fifth (5-2) win of the year.

Zeller, who went all the way for the fifth time in 2009, struck out nine and allowed just two earned runs but fell to 4-2.

After three days off, the Mustangs will resume GSAC action on Wednesday when they travel to Azusa Pacific for a game with the nation's No. 7 team and the conference's top squad.

Game 1 Boxscore 

Game 2 Boxscore