Senior lefty Gabriel Garcia also shone brightly on senior day as he hurled 10 solid innings at the Warriors. Cruising through three hitless innings, Garcia finally gave up a run in the top of the fourth on a sacrifice fly by the Warriors. Also scoring a run with just the aid of one hit in the sixth, the Warriors took a 2-0 lead as Westmont starter Tim Leary pitched eight shutout innings against the Lions.

However, the Lion offense finally came to Garcia's rescue with a pair of runs on two hits and a Warrior error in the bottom of the ninth. Down to their last at bats, the Lions figured Leary out, beginning with a leadoff double from Young. Junior Bryce Arroyo singled home Young for the first run, resulting in a call to the Westmont bullpen for Taylor Martin. Senior J.T. Truhett sacrificed Arroyo over to second base, and a Westmont error allowed Nikko Tountas to reach first and Arroyo to advance to third with only one out. Pinch-hitter Ethan Harper laid down a squeeze bunt to score Arroyo with the tying run, as the Warriors threw Harper out at first base. Martin escaped further damage to send the game into the tenth inning.

Garcia was outstanding again in the tenth, setting the Warriors down in order, but the Lion offense hit into a double play to get Martin out of another dangerous situation. The Lions called it a day for Garcia, who pitched 10 complete innings, allowing only two runs on four hits while striking out five of the 38 batters he faced. Vanguard brought in another senior lefty in Tucker Woods. Woods gave up a single, struck out a batter, and quieted the Warrior offense again in the 11th inning, VU's longest game of the year.

Young stepped up to lead off the bottom of the 11th and quickly ended the game with one swing, drilling a Martin pitch over the right-center field fence for a well-deserved and important victory for the Lions.

Young continued the heroics in game two as he came to the plate with Adonis Tountas on second base and two outs in the bottom of the first inning. Once again, one swing by Young gave the Lions a 2-0 lead as he crushed a pitch from Warrior starter Ryan Sullivan over the right field fence.

However, the Warriors responded with some solid hitting and disciplined at bats against Lion starter Kevin Ponzo. Leary, Westmont's designated hitter in game two, was hit by a pitch to begin the top of the second inning. One out later, the Warriors got back-to-back singles from David Gabel and Mitch Petrak to load the bases. The Warriors worked Ponzo for three consecutive full-count walks before he could get an inning-ending double play to prevent further runs. The three RBI-walks put the Warriors in front 3-2, where they would stay until the bottom of the third inning.

David Kiriakos singled with one out and Adonis Tountas singled to move Kiriakos to third base. Hank Yates lined a shot to center and Kiriakos scored to tie the game at three all, but Sullivan silenced the Lions from there.

The teams remained scoreless through six complete innings, with Ponzo relinquishing the job to Spencer Moran in the top of the seventh. Moran pitched a near-perfect seventh inning before the Lions had a chance for another walk off against Sullivan in the bottom of the seventh. Westmont called to the bullpen again with Geoff Rocha walking the only batter he faced to load the bases for Yates. Westmont then brought in Mitchell Crocker with the bases filled and two outs. Crocker took the hill and induced a grounder to end the threat and give the Warriors another chance.

Westmont took advantage of the opportunity in the top of the eighth, scoring three runs on four hits, including a two-run single by Jarratt Rouse.

Jordan Mould walked in the bottom of the eighth but the Lion offense ran out of answers and the Warriors claimed the 6-3 victory and the split, with Crocker (4-2) scoring the win and Moran (1-1) taking the loss.

Young finished the day with four hits, three RBI, and three runs scored while playing his final game on the Vanguard baseball field. Adonis Tountas ended the twinbill with four hits and a run scored, and his brother Nikko Tountas also chipped in a pair of hits and caught both games. Arroyo added two hits, a run scored and one run batted in as the teams had 13 hits each in the split.

Westmont improved to 20-25 overall with the game-two victory, rising to 11-19 in GSAC. The Warriors, who sit in seventh place in the GSAC standings, host the Lions tomorrow for the regular season-ending double header in Santa Barbara.

The Lions, now 23-19 overall, are in fifth place in the GSAC standings, one game ahead of Fresno Pacific who lost a pair to No. 11-ranked Concordia. The Sunbirds will also be taking on CUI for a double header on Saturday, while the Lions will be traveling to Westmont for the series-ending twinbill.