COSTA MESA, Calif. - After ACU chose to intentionally walk Grady Conner (JR/Costa Mesa, CA) in the bottom of the ninth, Landon Riker (JR/Marysville, WA) stepped up to the plate. With two outs and runenrs on first and second, Riker hit a walk off single down the left side to give VU the 5-4 victory over teh Firestorm. Despire dropping the second game of the game, the Lions are now 28-11 and 16-6 in conference competition.
Game 1: Vanguard 5, Arizona Christian University 4
Vanguard let three runs slip through their gloves early in the second inning, but let their offensive presence be known in the bottom of the second when Sam Neufeld (SR/Indio, CA) singled up the right side to send home Maxx Mahon (SR/Lexington, KY). Then, Caleb Squire (SR/Arvada, CO) made it across home plate on a wild pitch. The Lion's defense stepped up in the third inning with a double play from Squire to Chad Sutton (SO/Scottsdale, AZ) and Joe Johnson (SO/Medford, OR)'s play to stop a possible scoring opportunity from the Firestorm. Mahon tied up the game in the third inning off a single that sent home Johnson and Vanguard took the lead 4-3 off a run from Mahon, who was brought home by Squire. ACU tied up the game in the top of the sixth inning, but Vanguard sealed its 5-4 win with a walk off single from Riker that brought in the winning run from Josh Weeks (JR/Murrieta, CA). Matt Lester (JR/Salem, OR) collected his second win of the season after throwing a one hitter across his three innings on the bump.
Game 2: Vanguard 1, Arizona Christian University 8
Schuyler Hill (SR/Long Beach, CA) (SR/Long Beach, CA) made his 11th appearance on the mound for the Lions during the second game of the ACU double header. The teams went scoreless through the second inning, but in the third, the Firestorm broke things open. ACU posted six runs behind two hits and two Lion mistakes. In the bottom of the inning, Riker ripped a solo home run, but it was the only Vanguard run of the game. The Firestorm went on to score two more in the fourth, and held the Lions off the remainder of the matchup.
"They intentionally walked Grady and I knew this guy was a sinker ball pitcher," Riker said about his walkoff at bat in game one. "When I saw the ball in the air I knew it had a shot to get over the third baseman and it did and we got to celebrate after that."
Next Game: Saturday, April 6th the Lions conclude their series against ACU with a double header beginning at 11 a.m. in Costa Mesa, CA.
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