COSTA MESA, Calif. – The Lions (23-9-1) took on San Diego Christian (17-12) in a non-conference tilt on the same day Vanguard moved up to 15th in the NAIA Coaches' Top 25 Poll. In the end, the Hawks left with a 6-4 victory in the early week matchup.
After the Hawks took an early 1-0 lead, the Blue and Gold seemed to right the ship on a double down the right field line by Matt Harris (SR/Seaside, CA) which scored Sam Neufeld (FR/Indio, CA) and Paul Keating (SR/Oceanside, CA). This gave the Pride a 2-1 lead that they held through the end of the third inning. A disastrous fourth inning in which the Hawks blasted five runs proved to be too much for the Lions to overcome. Vanguard kept fighting until the end, closing the gap to 6-4 in the eighth inning. During their final nine outs, VU had a host of deep fly balls which were just a few feet short of exiting the ballpark, with many watching live thinking the swirly winds played a part.
"It's a tough loss, but we can learn from it and keep moving forward by minimizing the mistakes to give ourselves the best chance to win," Jose Rojas (SR/Anaheim, CA) said after the game.
Matt Silberman (SR/Murrieta, CA) (0-2) was awarded the loss in allowing four earned runs in his 3.1 innings of command. Ryan Heinle (SR/Stockton, CA) pitched two innings as the Lions used six arms on the day, with only two pitching more than an inning.
At the plate, Paul Keating was 2-4 and was the only Lion to have multiple hits on the day. The teams' four RBI's came off the bats of Harris and Trai Patrick (JR/Everett, WA). Taking in to account the result from the previous three game series the two teams played, the clubs are knotted at 2-2 in the wins and losses columns.
Vanguard hits the road this weekend for a three-game battle at Arizona Christian starting on Friday, April 1st at 3:00 p.m. The Firestorm currently is 9-19 on the year and 6-15 in conference play.
-GOLD PRIDE-
