COSTA MESA,Calif. - After a 10-1 preseason performance, the Lions had their first conference test Friday against Menlo College. The Lions ousted the Oaks in two consecutive games of the GSAC opener. The wins over Menlo makes VU 12-1 overall and 2-0 in conference play.
Game 1: Lions 7, Menlo 4
Menlo mustered up three singles in the top of the first inning to go up 1-0, but the Lions rebounded quickly. Sam Neufeld (SR/Indio, CA) hit a single to lead off and stole second. Landon Riker (JR/Marysville, WA) added another base hit to move Neufeld to third and Maxx Mahon (SR/Lexington, KY) doubled to left field for two RBI. After holding Menlo off the in the second, Vanguard loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning. It started with a Chad Sutton (SO/Scottsdale, AZ) walk and then Grady Conner (JR/Costa Mesa, CA) singled down the right field line. Neufeld drew a walk to load the bases and Riker followed suite to score Sutton. Mahon came to the plate next, and hit a sacrifice fly to right field for one more Lion run. VU pushed the difference to four when Riker came home on a wild pitch. In the fifth, the Oaks added one run to close in on the Lion lead. But Vanguard nabbed one more when Josh Weeks (JR/Murrieta, CA) hit a two out double and Sutton sent him home with a single. The following inning, VU added its final run after Riker got on base with a single and Mahon hit him in. Menlo captiallized on a few VU errors for two runs, but it wasn't enough to overthrow the Lions.
Michael Kashou (JR/Anaheim, CA) earned his fourth win after going six innings with zero earned runs allowed with six strikeouts. Mahon had two hits with four RBI and the Lions had 11 combined hits.
Game 2: Lions 7, Menlo 3
Menlo jumped to another first inning lead behind two runs off two hits in the first inning, and then extended it to 3-0 with a solo run in the second. Vanguard equalized the score in the bottom of two with a duo of hits and walks. Joe Johnson (SO/Medford, OR) and Conner got back-to-back walks and Weeks singled to center for one RBI. With two outs, Diego Altamirano (FR/Bothell, WA) doubled to right field to knock in two Lions and tie the ball game. A single from Mahon gave VU a slim lead in the third and another double from Altamirano in the fourth pushed it to 5-3. In the sixth, Johnson hit a lead off home run to right for another run before Altamirano registered his third RBI of the game with a a single to left field. Matt Lester (JR/Salem, OR) closed the game off for the Lions in the top of the seventh for the 7-3 win.
Schuyler Hill (SR/Long Beach, CA) improved to 3-0 from six innings of work, allowing two earned runs with six strikeouts. Altamirano was 3-3 with four RBI in the game.
"After the offense gave me the lead I had to shut it down after," Hill said. "They gave me all of the motivation I needed. I tried to just put it over the plate and let our defense go to work and it worked out."
Next Game: Saturday, Feb. 23rd in a double header beginning at 11 a.m. against Menlo College in Costa Mesa, CA.
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