COSTA MESA, Calif. – After taking the first game of the series, the Lions (12-3, 9-3) were able to finish off the series with a sweep against the visiting San Diego Christian Hawks (3-13, 2-13). The Lions saw their bats come to life in the first game with a 12-7 victory, and continued the winning trend with a 4-2 win in the nightcap.
Game One: Vanguard 12, San Diego Christian 7
In the first game, the Lions saw themselves down 0-4 after a second inning outbreak from the visiting Hawks. But much like they have done throughout the season, they responded quickly with a three-run bottom of the inning to pull things within one run. Brandon Sandoval would get things started when he doubled to left center, sending Paul Keating home from second. Just two batters later, Brock Eissman would send Sandoval and Justin Davis across the plate with a two-out double into left center.
The Lions would take the lead in the fourth inning with two more runs. It started when Davis would come in to pinch hit and make contact to single down the right field line, sending Taylor McKnight home and tying things up at four. They would take the lead through Jose Rojas, who sent Davis home when he hit a double into left field. The Hawks would tie things up in the next inning, but a huge offensive outburst in the fifth would seal things up for the home team.
Vanguard would be able to take the lead without getting a hit in the fifth after three walks and two batters being hit by a pitch from the Hawks relievers. With the bases loaded Sandoval, who had three RBI's on the day, hit a double down the left field line, sending two runs across the plate. The next batter up was Davis, who singled into left field to send two more runs across the plate, and give the Lions a commanding 10-5 lead.
The Hawks would only be able to chip away at the lead with a couple more runs, but the Lions sealed it in the bottom of the eight when Paul Keating hit a two-run home run and securing the victory.
Game Two: Vanguard 4, Arizona Christian 2
It took a little longer for the bats to get warmed up in the second game, but a strong pitching performance from Jordan Moak helped keep the Hawks grounded as the Lions hitters found their groove. They would strike first in the second inning when Keating singled into center field, sending Bret Collins home from second base.
From there, Moak was able to keep things close as he struck out four batters and only allowed two runs through the first six innings. The Lions were able to get some insurance runs in the fifth inning, scoring three runs to bring their lead to 4-0. Justin Vega smashed a triple down the right field line, sending both Sandoval and Davis home on the play. A Brock Eissman single sent Vega home to finish off the scoring for the inning, and giving the Lions all of the runs they would need.
The Hawks were able to get two runs in the sixth inning, but Sam Frakes came in and shut them down in the final inning, giving Moak the win, and earning himself the save for the game.
Vanguard will hit the road for their next games with an important conference series against Westmont College, who sit just above them in the conference standings. The first game of the series will be on February 20 at 2:00pm in Santa Barbara, with a double header scheduled for the next day at 11:00am.
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