COSTA MESA, Calif. — Vanguard University made its 2018 Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament debut against No. 2-seeded Westmont College. Westmont has won four of the six games during the regular season, and Vanguard came out expecting a battle. The Warriors came out swinging on the No. 3-seeded tournament hosts field, and pulled out a 5-0 win. Two dingers and a double was all it took for Westmont to grab the momentum away from the Lions, despite the eager offensive display from the Pride. While the hits came, they struggled to fall as the windy conditions created an obstacle. Michael Fuchs (SR/Irvine, CA), a member of this year's Gold Glove team, said he thought they did well, but the hits were not falling. "We battled until the end, but their hits fell and their pitcher was on," Fuchs said of Westmont. Despite the outcome, Fuchs commended the Pride's togetherness. "We stayed together as a team and that's going to carry on into the rest of the tournament — staying together and playing the rest of the season strong. We stay together, pick everyone up and battle until the very end." Vanguard will move on to face Hope International University tomorrow morning. Fuchs said he expects nothing less than their best. "We're expecting to come out and compete, and play to the best of our ability. It's going to be a good day of games tomorrow, and we're going to come out on top."
Vanguard found themselves in hot water against Westmont as soon as the first inning as Luke Coffey launched a rocket to right field for the first two runs of the game in the Warrior's favor. Another homer on Westmont's end increased the Lions' deficit to 0-3 by the end of the fourth frame. The Lions' were on the brink of making something happen in the top of the fifth, but came up shy of a rally. Sam Neufeld (JR/Indio, CA) doubled down the right field line, and Kody Wright (JR/Bakersfield, CA) followed with a single that grazed the pitcher's mound. The pair were left stranded as Chad Sutton (FR/Scottsdale, AZ) went down swinging. Coffey struck once more for the Warriors in the bottom of the seventh, as he was met with a bases loaded situation. The third basemen whacked a line drive that narrowly missed foul ball territory and scored two more Warriors for the 5-0 lead.
Jared Greer (FR/Anaheim, CA) debuted in the bottom of the eighth to relieve Jordan Dreibelbis (SR/Las Vegas, NV) from his seven-inning bout. The senior righty delivered three strikeouts and walked two batters on 32 batters faced. The Warriors counterpart pitched full nine innings, tossed one strikeout and gave up six hits. Joe Johnson (FR/Medford, OR) went 2-for-4 on the day, while Josh Weeks (SO/Murrieta, CA) and Tanner Perry (SR/El Cajon, CA) went 1-for-4 in the box.
Next Game: Tuesday, May 1st against Hope International University at 9:00 a.m.
-GOLD PRIDE-
