Costa Mesa, Calif. - With a chance of securing the GSAC number-two seed entering the postseason, the Vanguard Lions welcomed a familiar rival to Costa Mesa on Saturday for a double header on "Senior Day." Needing one win to lock up at least a share of second place in the conference, the NAIA No. 16 Lions fell short in the first contest of the twin bill, losing 10-2, before dropping a heart-breaker in game two, losing 7-5 in eight innings. The sweep by Concordia University dropped No. 16 Vanguard into a tie for third place with No. 10 Point Loma Nazarene, while No. 24 Fresno Pacific swept San Diego Christian and jumped into second place on the final day of GSAC regular season play.
VU starter Jason Dovel fell into trouble early, as the junior lefty struggled with his command. Facing a tight strike zone, Dovel walked the first CUI batter of the game, Robbie Knowles. After getting Matt Ivanoff to fly out, Dovel hit back-to-back Eagle batters to load the bases. A Chris Lum sacrifice fly scored the first run of the game, and then Danny Casey drilled a Dovel offering for a single, scoring two more CUI runs.
Facing the early 3-0 deficit, the Vanguard offense struggled to get going. Eagle starter Dean Persinger shackled the Lions, allowing only one hit through the first four innings. Meanwhile, Concordia tacked on another run in the top of the fourth, using another walk and wild pitch by Dovel to advance Knowles into scoring position. Eagle catcher John Hill, who went 4-4 in the first game of the series, came through with an RBI single, plating Knowles and giving the visitors a 4-0 cushion.
The hosts joined the party in the bottom of the sixth, using singles by seniors Zach Leighton and Eric Krzysiak to put runners on first and third. VU centerfielder Tyson Leighton came to the plate with two on and two outs, and smacked a line drive into the gap in right-center to score his older brother and Krzysiak. Yet any momentum shift would be short lived, as CUI answered in the seventh with two more runs courtesy of a Hill homer and a sacrifice fly off Vanguard reliever Adrian Mendoza.
Down 6-2 entering the eighth, Vanguard needed to turn the game around quickly. However, Persinger was too much on the bump for the Lions. The right-hander pitched a complete game, giving up only two runs on just six VU hits. Concordia tacked on four more runs off two more Lion relievers, James McGeary and Corey Kohnke, to take the 10-2 victory.
Persinger earned his fourth win of the season, striking out nine Vanguard batters. Dovel took the loss for the Blue and Gold. Tyson Leighton's two RBI paced the hosts, though the Eagles outhit VUSC 14-6.
Game two turned out to be a heart-breaker after the Lions erased a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh only to see the Eagles soar back with a pair of runs in the eighth inning for a 7-5 victory and the important sweep.
Vanguard starter Lance Abbott surrendered a pair of runs in the top of the first but it was the fourth-inning rally that would end his day earlier than he wanted, heading to the showers after giving up five runs on six hits in 3.1 innings of work. Senior Peter Birdwell relieved Abbott and shut the Eagles down from there, limiting the visitors to four hits the rest of the way.
The Lions were quiet against CUI starter Daniel Heben, trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the last scheduled inning. However, Vanguard took advantage of some control problems by CUI reliever Blake Harrison. Kip Masuda took first after being hit with a Harrison pitch and Billy Hamilton singled to move pinch runner Corey Kohnke to second base. Senior Brett Halstead stepped up with a pinch-hit single, but Kohnke was gunned down at the plate for the first out of the inning. One out later, Zach Leighton doubled home Hamilton and Brandon Young drove home pinch-runner Brandon Pesante with an RBI single, cutting the Eagle lead to 5-3. CUI called Ryan Day in from the bullpen and day walked Eric Krzysiak, the first batter he faced. Tyson Leighton, one of VU's hottest hitters, laced a double down the left field line, scoring Young and Zach Leighton. However, pinch-runner Keegan Freeman, the potential game-ending run, was thrown out at home on the play, sending the game into extra innings in a 5-5 tie.
Birdwell retired the first batter in the top of the eighth, but the Eagles put together three consecutive singles to retake the lead. Pete Lemone drove home the go-ahead run for Concordia but a two-out Vanguard error would eventually allow the second run of the inning, giving the Eagles a 7-5 edge.
Day pitched a perfect bottom of the eighth inning to collect the win in relief as the Eagles improve to 27-22 overall and 17-19 in GSAC.
Krzysiak and Tyson Leighton ripped two hits each for the Lions, who were out-hit 10-9 in game two, and Birdwell took the loss, dropping to 3-2 this season. Although the Lions will be headed into the postseason for the first time since 2002, the double header loss could put a damper on their chances for an at-large berth into the NAIA National Tournament. The GSAC Postseason Tournament schedule will be announced on the GSAC website and the NAIA rankings will come out again early next week.
Livestats
Game 1 Boxscore
Game 2 Boxscore
2010 Vanguard Seniors and their families prior to the last home game |
