Costa Mesa, Calif. - Vanguard Baseball Field - The Vanguard University baseball team continued to roll today on a cool and cloudy afternoon in Costa Mesa. The Lions lit up the dreary day with a nine-run sixth inning that propelled the hosts to an 11-3 victory over No. 16-ranked The Master's College. Today's victory pulled the Lions even at 2-2 in the four-game season series with the Mustangs.
Continuing and completing a rained out double header from April 14th, today finally ended a long, drawn out matchup between the Mustangs and the Lions. Having split the first double header and TMC taking the single makeup game last Monday, the Lions needed a victory to salvage a split in the series.
Both offenses went right to work as the Mustangs took the first lead in the top of the first inning. Tanner Leighton singled to lead off the game and Steve Karkenny followed with a bunt single to put two runners on. Leighton stole third base and scored on a ground out before Joe Riddle singled home Karkenny for the second run. However, Vanguard starting pitcher Scott Simmons settled down from there and did not allow another run through the first four innings.
The Lions clawed back with a run in the bottom of the first as David Kiriakos doubled to right field to start the VU offense. Moving to third on a sacrifice bunt, Kiriakos brought the Lions within a run on a sacrifice fly by Hank Yates. Vanguard tied the game in the third when Yated singled home Ethan Harper with two outs in the inning.
Simmons remained strong until he ran into some trouble in the top of the fifth inning. With the bases loaded and two outs, the Lions called on senior southpaw Tucker Woods to take over on the hill. Woods was able to strike out the first batter he faced to preserve the 2-2 stalemate for Simmons and the Lions.
Vanguard finally broke the Mustangs in the bottom of the sixth, and it all began when Yates walked to lead off the frame. Senior Brandon Young sacrificed Yates to second and Bryce Arroyo followed with a walk to put two runners on for TMC reliever James Scott, who had relieved Mustang starter Daniel Sheaffer in the middle of the fifth inning. A Mustang error opened the door wider and the Lions came roaring through. The chaotic inning featured nine runs on two walks, four hits, one error, two squeeze bunts, two hit batters, and a couple of fielder's choices off of three Mustang pitchers. The Lions sent 14 batters to the plate with the first big blow coming in the form of a pinch-hit, two-run double by Michael Castello, which gave the Lions their first lead of the game. Adonis Tountas and Arroyo added two-run singles later in the inning as the Lions put the game out of reach with one big inning.
Woods, who gave up a solo homer to Bryan Lucas in the top of the eighth, earned the win in relief with 3.1 solid innings. He allowed only the one hit to Lucas, walked three and struck out two as he improved to 4-2 this season. Spencer Moran pitched a scoreless ninth to complete the victory for the Lions.
Scott (5-5) took the loss for The Master's with Tom Gilbertson and Tommy Kister pitching the rest of the game for the Mustangs. TMC remains in fourth place in the GSAC at 16-16, and drops to 31-19 overall with today's loss.
Having now won four games in a row, the Lions are 12-16 and back in the hunt for the GSAC playoffs. Vanguard improves to 22-18 overall with a four-game series with Westmont College remaining on the regular season schedule. The Lions host the Warriors for a single game this Thursday and Friday before traveling to Westmont on Saturday for the series-ending double header.
