SAN DIEGO, Calif. – It took some time to find their offense this afternoon, but the Lions (27-12, 21-10) bats exploded in extra innings to help them secure the 9-4 win against the San Diego Christian Hawks (9-30, 8-23). Jose Rojas (JR/Anaheim, CA) and Brock Eissman (SO/San Clemente, CA) each provided a home run to spark a six run tenth inning to help secure the win.

Vanguard sent Ryan Heinle (JR/Stockton, CA) to the mound for the afternoon, and the Hawks took advantage of him in the first inning, scoring two quick runs to take the early 2-0 lead. Heinle would find his groove though in the next innings and only gave up six hits in his six innings of work, striking out four batters in the process.

Paul Keating (JR/Oceanside, CA) would pull a run back in the fourth inning with a leadoff solo home run to make it 3-1, and the Lions would make it 3-2 in the next inning through a Brandon Sandoval (SO/Fallbrook, CA) RBI double. Sandoval would then score on an error in the seventh inning to tie things up at 3-3. Keating came into the game leading the conference in hits, and had another multi-hit game going two-for-five today with two RBIs.

Heinle and Marshall McKinnon (SR/Los Gatos, CA) were able to keep the Hawks off the board through the ninth inning, and then the Lions batters came to life in the tenth inning to score six huge runs. It started with a Sandoval walk followed by a Justin Vega (SO/Chatsworth, CA) single. Keating would single into left field to plate Sandoval and give the Lions the 4-3 lead. With Keating and Vega on base, it was Jose Rojas that stepped into the box and slapped a three-run home run into right field to extend the lead to 7-3. The Lions would not be done there though, as Eissman flexed his muscles and hit a two-run home run into right field to send Trevor McKnight home, and giving them the 9-3 lead.

The Hawks could not muster the same offense that the Lions produced in the tenth and could only pull one run back, with the game ending 9-4. Rojas had another good day at the plate going three-for-five with three RBIs, while Eissman also collected two hits on the day.

Vanguard will return home for the next two games in the series, closing out with a double header against the Hawks. The first pitch is scheduled for Thursday, April 2 at Noon on the VU Campus. The game was originaly scheduled to be played in San Diego but was relocated to Costa Mesa.

-GOLDPRIDE-