COSTA MESA, Calif. — Vanguard University made its season debut on Dean Harvey Field against the Golden Eagles of La Sierra University, but fell two runs shy of the Golden Eagles, dropping the opener with a score of 5-3. The Lions drop to 0-1 on the season and the Golden Eagles improve to 1-0.

Vanguard got off to an early start deep in the second inning off a sac-fly hit straight into center field by Josh Weeks (SO/Murrieta, CA) to bring Lucas Martinez (SR/Fairfax, VA) home and grab his first RBI of the season. Sam Neufeld (JR/Indio, CA) grabbed an RBI off a single to bring in Shane Elias-Calles (SR/Mission Viejo, CA), and Elias-Calles launched a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to round out runs for the Lions.

Jordan Dreibelbis (SR/Las Vegas, NV) took the mound and pitched five solid innings before Josh Bailly (SR/Union City, CA) was called up from the bullpen. Ryan Daugherty (JR/Laguna Niguel, CA) made his appearance in the eighth inning and closed things out cleanly for the Lions, allowing no runs and no errors. Elias-Calles and Neufeld both finished 2-4 on the day and Martinez was just behind the pair going 1-4. Both the Lions and Golden Eagles used three of their pitchers with Dreibelbis and La Sierra's starting pitcher put in 5.0 innings of work on the day. Vanguard finished with no errors, six hits and seven players left on base, while La Sierra had three errors, seven hits and six players left on base.

Next Game: Tuesday, January 23rd against Bethesda University of California at 2:00 p.m.

-GOLD PRIDE-