Costa Mesa, Calif - The Vanguard Lions traveled to Santa Barbara today for a Golden State Athletic Conference baseball double header against the Westmont Warriors. The Lions committed four errors in a 4-3 game-one loss before falling 5-1 in game two to the Warriors.
Vanguard jumped in front in the top of the first inning using two singles, a walk, and a run-scoring fielder's choice by Eric Sanchez, giving VU starter Antonio Peraza a 1-0 lead as he took the mound in the bottom of the first inning. Bryce Arroyo doubled to lead off the VU second inning and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Jeremiah Mejia to increase VU's lead to 2-0.
Peraza worked a perfect first inning but the Warriors responded with two runs in the bottom of the second, rapping two hits and taking advantage of two Vanguard errors. The hosts claimed the lead in the sixth without the aid of a hit. A leadoff walk came back to haunt Peraza as a sacrifice bunt and another VU error put the Warriors ahead 3-2. Westmont tacked on one more run in the seventh to stretch the gap to 4-2 heading into the eighth inning.
The Lions had stranded five runners by the time they reached the ninth inning and faced the two-run deficit. The Warriors replaced starting pitcher Daniel Cabuling with reliever Jacob Regalado to begin the ninth. Arroyo lead off the ninth with a double to left and moved to third on a Brandon Pesante single down the right field line. Arroyo scored as the Warrior defense turned a double play, but Regalado retired the final out to secure the win for Cabuling and the Warriors and the save for himself.
Vanguard outhit the Warriors 10-6, but four errors helped the Warriors score three uneared runs against Peraza. VU's hurler pitched the entire eight innings and allowed only six hits and two walks while striking out five Warriors but was received the loss just the same. Four of VU's ten hits came from Arroyo who scored two of Vanguard's three runs.
Westmont charged into game two with a pair of runs on three hits in the bottom of the first against VU starting pitcher Corey Kohnke. The 2-0 lead would remain until the top of the fourth inning when the Lions cut the deficit in half on two walks, a hit batter and a wild pitch. Senior Tyson Leighton, who led off with a walk to begin the fourth, scored on a wild pitch to pull the Lions within 2-1.
Westmont pulled away with a three-run fifth inning as the Warriors took command with a 5-1 lead and held on for the sweep over the Lions this season. The Lions were held to four hits in game two while the Warriors tallied 12 hits, 10 against Kohnke and two in three innings against Mike Leal.
The Warriors improve to 11-14 overall and 4-10 in GSAC, while the Lions drop to 12-12 and 8-6 in GSAC action. The teams will rematch for another GSAC double header on Saturday at Vanguard University. Game one begins at 12:00 p.m.
