By Beth Renkoski

3/28/09

One Base at a Time for VU Baseball in Split with No. 24 Sunbirds

Wood has been on fire at the plate

Brian Lewis started game one

Mike Anderson had 6 hits against FPU

Eric Krzysiak caught both games for VUSC

Jason Schaniel had 2 hits in game one

Chris Carls earned the game 1 win in relief

Costa Mesa, Calif. - Leaving a blazing trail the last two weeks, the Vanguard Lions continued to hit well, totaling 24 hits in a GSAC double header against No. 24-ranked Fresno Pacific University. The Lions who have won seven of ten games in the last two weeks, pounded out 15 hits, including 13 singles, in VU's 9-6 win in the opener and outhit the Sunbirds 9-5 in a 4-3 loss in game two. Today's split moves Vanguard into seventh place in the GSAC standings at 10-12.

The Lions grabbed the first lead of the day with a pair of unearned runs against FPU's starting pitcher Danny Mora, whose throwing error opened the door for Vanguard. Mike Anderson and Josh Manzano singled to begin the frame with Anderson scoring on the error on an attempted sacrifice bunt by the Lions. Manzano also advanced on the play and scored on a ground out for a 2-0 VU lead in the bottom of the second inning.

FPU cut the lead in half with an RBI single by Jacob Burns in the top of the third, but the Lions answered with two more runs in the bottom half of the inning. Keegan Freeman walked to lead off the inning and moved to second on a single by Jason Schaniel. Freeman scored on an RBI single by Anderson and Schaniel eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Manzano, rebuilding VU's lead to 4-1 after three complete innings.

Vanguard starting pitcher Brian Lewis allowed five hits but only a lone run in the first three innings before running into major trouble in the fourth inning. Allowing singles to the first three batters of the inning, Lewis was relieved by senior Chris Carls. Carls gave up singles to the first two batters to plate the first two runs of the inning and a wild pitch scored the third. A Vanguard error kept the inning going, and the fourth run came home on a sacrifice fly by Burns, putting the Sunbirds ahead 5-4 heading into the bottom of the fourth inning.

Mora carried the 5-4 lead into the bottom of the fifth where the Lions began the inning with a leadoff triple by Freeman, who scored on a single by Schaniel to tie the game. Nick Akins followed with a single, chasing Mora for FPU reliever Jordan Keener. Anderson added a base hit to right field to load the bases for Manzano, who came through with a run scoring safety to right-center field. Akins scored on a fielder's choice by catcher Eric Krzysiak and Anderson ran home on a single by Derek Craddock. Another pitching change by FPU brought in Kelyn Schelenberg for Keener, who was greeted with a single from Zach Falk. A Sunbird error allowed Craddock to score the fifth and final run of the inning for Vanguard as the Lions took a 9-5 lead.

Carls gave up one run on a pair of hits in the FPU sixth, but was stellar the rest of the way holding the Sunbirds to a pair of hits and no runs in the last three innings. He worked 5.2 innings, scattering seven hits and three runs while striking out four and walking no one. Carls earned the win in relief and improves to 2-3 overall this season.

Vanguard also took the first lead in game two as Akins homered to center field to lead off the second inning. Courtesy runner Dan Black, running for Krzysiak, scored the second run on a fielder's choice by Falk.

Anderson, VU's game two starting pitcher, cruised through the first four innings with a one-hitter and four strikeouts against the Sunbirds. However, things changed in the fifth as Anderson had a little trouble finding the strike zone and the Sunbirds made their two hits count. Anderson walked the leadoff batter, but Krzysiak erased the potential base stealer at second for the first out. Another walked batter was sacrificed to second base and Anthony Lowell capitalized with a two-run home run to left to tie the game. A VU error, a double and a walk loaded the bases before Anderson could strike out the final batter to exit the inning with a 2-2 tie.

The Lions responded with a run in the bottom of the fifth as Falk lead off with a single. Pinch-runner Ethan Gentry moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Mario Romero and scored the go-ahead run on a single by pinch hitter Brett Halstead.

Anderson pitched a scoreless sixth inning and left the game with a 3-2 lead after giving up a leadoff double to the Sunbirds in the top of the seventh inning. Rich Jessup took over for Anderson and induced a ground ball for the first out of the inning. However, Keeney stepped up and hit a two-run blast to left field to give FPU the 4-3 lead.

Vanguard went down in order against FPU closer Brian Oliver (2-2) who pitched the last two innings and earned the win for the Sunbirds. No. 24 FPU had 20 hits on the day improves to 21-10 overall and 15-9 in GSAC with the game two win.

Jessup (3-4) took the loss in the nightcap as the Lions slip to 14-15 overall. In addition to pitching six innings of game two, Anderson was 6-for-7 at the plate today with a pair of runs and a run batted in. Akins and Manzano contributed four hits in the twinbill while Schaniel, Freeman, and Falk added two hits apiece in VU's 24-hit day which included a total of 21 base hits.

Vanguard is back in action on Wednesday when the Lions travel to Irvine to take on the Concordia Eagles in a 3:00 p.m. GSAC game.

Livestats

Game 1 Boxscore

Game 2 Boxscore