COSTA MESA, Calif. — The opening game to a Golden State Athletic Conference series between Vanguard University and Westmont College ended in favor of the Warriors who toppled the Pride with a score of 5-2. Despite the loss, Shane Elias-Calles (SR/Mission Viejo, CA) said the Lions remain optimistic about the remainder of the series. "It's a tough loss to start the series, but we battled back pretty nice," Elias-Calles said. "We didn't have a couple things go our way, but we're going to come back strong tomorrow. We're going to come out swinging the bats and hopefully get a hold of an early lead and ride it out."

Westmont struck first in the second inning and rolled with the momentum in the next four innings, leading by two runs. Vanguard denied the shutout opportunity in the sixth inning with a run from Julio Rivera (JR/Puerto Rico). Rivera singled to third and made his way to third on a throwing error by the pitcher. Elias-Calles hit a RBI single through the right side to send Rivera in. Fuchs walked and loaded the bases with two outs on the board, but an untimely fly ball from Lucas Martinez (SR/Fairfax, VA) closed out the inning. Westmont fired back with three more runs in the seventh inning and shut down the Lions in the bottom of the frame. Elias-Calles knocked a solo home run to left field to trail the Warriors 5-2, but the offense struggled to keep moving. Jordan Dreibelbis (SR/Las Vegas, NV) pitched seven innings for the Lions and gave up 11 hits and five runs. Dreibelbis threw four strikeouts and walked one batter on 35 batters faced. Ryan Daugherty (JR/Laguna Niguel, CA) took the mound in the final two innings and threw two strikeouts on seven batters faced. Elias-Calles went 2-for-4 at the plate, scored once and picked up two RBI. Josh Weeks (SO/Murrieta, CA) also went 2-for-4 in the box while Rivera went 1-for-3 and scored once.

Next Game: Saturday, March 24th against Westmont College at 11:00 a.m. (DH)

-GOLD PRIDE-