Riverside, Calif. - No. 5-ranked California Baptist clinched at least a tie for the 2010 GSAC Baseball Championship with a double header sweep of the No. 11-ranked Vanguard Lions. The Lancers pulled away late in game one for a 6-1 victory and completed the sweep with a 7-4 win in the nightcap.
Vanguard starter Jason Dovel pitched 6.1 solid innings against the Lancers, scattering four hits and two unearned runs with two strikeouts. CBU's first run came in the third as Jake Johnson doubled to lead off the frame. Moving to third on a VU error, Johnson scored on Garrett Rau's sacrifice fly for a 1-0 CBU lead.
VU's Tyson Leighton tied the game with a solo homer in the top of the fourth, sending CBU's freshman hurler Jesse Arreola's pitch over the right field fence.
The Lancers took the lead in the bottom of the sixth with another unearned run charged to Dovel. Rau launched the leadoff double, moved to third on a ground out, and scored the go-ahead run on a VU error.
Trailing 2-1 in the top of the eighth, the Lions tallied a pair of hits against Arreola, but the Lancers turned one of their three double plays to snuff the Vanguard rally and preserve the one-run lead.
Senior Peter Birdwell relieved Dovel (4-1) in the middle of the seventh, but the Lancers would break the game open in the bottom of the eighth, scoring four runs on three hits and an error to stretch the gap to 6-1.
Rau took over pitching duties for CBU in the top of the ninth and walked Billy Hamilton with one out. Jacob Domingos singled to keep the game going and Brandon Pesante singled to load the bases with only one out. However, the Rau induced another ground ball double play to end the game and hold on to the 6-1 win.
Outhitting the Lancers 8-7 in game one, the Lions continued with a strong offense in game two. Outhitting the hosts 11-9, the Lions could not cash in on the hits and would eventually lose 7-4 in the seven-inning nightcap.
VU's Adrian Mendoza and CBU's Rau pitched the first 3.1 innings of game two with the Lancers getting the better of Mendoza, taking a 5-2 lead at the end of three innings.
Vanguard's first two runs came in the third against Rau, who gave up eight of VU's 11 hits. The Lions combined four hits and a CBU error to cut the lead to 3-2 before the hosts tacked on two runs in the bottom of the third inning. Eric Krzysiak and Tyson Leighton connected for the RBI singles in VU's two-run rally.
The Lions continued to push for a comeback, jumping on Rau for two more runs in the top of the fourth as Hamilton and Pesante singled back-to-back to begin the inning. Zach Leighton posted a two-run double, bringing the Lions within a run 5-4, but was later thrown out at the plate trying to score on a Lancer error.
One run was as close as the Lions would get. CBU added a pair of runs in the fifth off VU reliever Bryce Reid in the fifth for the final score of 7-4.
Held to two hits in the final three innings, the Lions dropped to 21-11 and into third place in GSAC with the loss. Tyson Leighton and Hamilton led the Lions with two hits each in game two, while Zach Leighton was the only Lion with multiple RBIs. Tyson Leighton had a pair of hits in each game, including his 11th home run of the year.
Vanguard, now 31-13 overall, will take on Concordia University next week in the final regular season four-game series which will determine the postseason tournament positioning.
Game 1 Boxscore
Game 2 Boxscore
