By Beth Renkoski

04/18/09

Cougars Capture Two From Vanguard

Vanguard took a 1-0 lead as junior Nick Akins drilled a leadoff homer for the visiting Lions. However, VU's starting pitcher Brett Siegmund did not make it through the first inning as the Cougar offense exploded for seven runs in their first at bat. Three straight singles set the table for a grandslam from Brian Cutspec. Siegmund hit the next batter before the Cougars chased him with two more singles to reload the bases with no outs. Vanguard brought in Brian Lewis to replace Siegmund on the hill, but the Cougars would score three more runs before Lewis could exit the inning, with all seven first-inning runs charged to Siegmund.

The Lions bounced back with four runs in the top of the second on two hits and two APU errors. Keegan Freeman highlighted the rally with a 2-run homer for the Lions, pushing APU to make a call to the bullpen to replace starting pitcher Ben Jones with Ian Kelly.

Game one proved to be an offensive battle as the Cougars piled on seven more runs off Lewis in the second inning, including a pair of runs on a homer by Jeff Chavira and four more on another grand slam by Cutspec.

Trailing 14-5 heading into the top of the fifth inning, the Lions chipped away at the lead with a solo dinger by Mike Anderson and a two-run shot by senior Derek Craddock. Another power outburst by Zach Falk capped a four-run sixth inning for the Lions, as Falk drove home Jason Schaniel with a two-run homer to left field, cutting APU's advantage to 14-12.

Cutspec clubbed his third home run of the game in the bottom of the seventh, but the Cougars put the game away with a six-run eighth inning off Chris Carls, VU's third pitcher of the game.

APU out-hit the Lions 18-11 in the 21-13 game one victory with each team belting five home runs each. Craddock and Akins led the Lions with two hits apiece and Siegmund took the loss, dropping to 1-3 this season.

Hits were a little more evenly distributed in game two with APU still edging the Lions 11 hits to nine and each team ripping one home run, but the Cougars took advantage of five walks by Lion pitching and turned three double plays against the VU offense in the 9-2 win in the seven-inning nightcap.

Vanguard took the early lead on a two-out solo home run by Eric Krzysiak in the top of the first and doubled the lead on an RBI single by Mario Romero in the top of the second inning. Posting six hits in the first two innings, the Lions were held to three hits the rest of the way as APU's hurler Peter Gehle (5-2) struck out three in a complete-game effort for the Cougars.

Azusa cut VU's 2-0 lead to one run with a run in the bottom of the second inning and took the lead for good with a five-run fourth inning off VU starter Richard Jessup (3-6). The Cougars used six hits to force the Lions to bring in relief on the mound. Sophomore Jordan Wishmyer induced a double play to get out of the jam, but the Lions could not overcome the 6-2 deficit.

The Cougars padded their lead with three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth as Ryan Delgado launched a three-run home run off Wishmyer to complete APU's scoring for the day.

Siegmund was the only Lion with a pair of hits as seven other players contributed to the nine-hit effort, and Krzysiak and Romero accounted for VU's only RBIs.

APU (31-13, 21-11) moves into a tie for second place in the GSAC standings with today's sweep while the Lions have lost six games in a row and slip to 16-24 overall and 11-21 in GSAC.

Game 1 Boxscore

Game 2 Boxscore