COSTA MESA, Calif. - The Vanguard Lions (11-3) took both of the games against La Sierra University (1-14) in what would be the final game for the Blue and Gold before opening up conference play on Friday against Menlo. The Lions scored 21 total runs, five of them coming from total home runs, while only allowing one total run in what would be a dominant performance on both sides of the ball for VU.
Game One: Vanguard University 16 - La Sierra University 1
The Lions got rolling early on as with a man on and no outs, Landon Riker (SR/Marysville, WA) hit a towering shot to left field to put two runs on the board to the delight of his teammates. Joe Johnson (JR/Medford, OR) was plunked by the pitcher and managed to steal second and third base and Josh Weeks (SR/Murrieta, CA) brought him home with a two-out single to right to give VU a 3-0 lead after one. With two on and no outs, Aki Buckson (JR/Silverdale, WA) hit a three-run shot to left field to keep the good times rolling in the bottom of the second. After a walk put a runner on first, Johnson followed with another home run to right. The Lions would take advantage of an RBI single by Cameron Hirahara (JR/Grover Beach, CA) and an RBI single by Grady Conner (SR/Costa Mesa, CA) to take a ten-run lead after two innings.
J. Weeks continued his fantastic day in the bottom of the third as he doubled to left with two on and one out, scoring one to record his second RBI of the day. Johnson would tally RBI number three in the bottom of the fourth as he singled to left to score Riker from second. La Sierra got on the board in the top of the fifth, but a double by Gabe Barthelmass (JR/Laguna Niguel, CA) in the seventh would bring two more runs in and two RBI singles in the eighth by Nate Petrov (JR/San Ramon, CA) and Elijah Weeks (SO/Murrieta, CA) would seal the win for the Blue and Gold.
Justin Graves (SO/Irvine, CA) only allowed three hits in three innings of work, striking out four to earn his second win of the year. Head Coach Rob Pegg cycled through seven more pitchers, each pitching around an inning each, doing their part to earn their tenth win of the year.
Game Two: Vanguard University 5 - La Sierra University 0
Through four innings, Brian Park (FR/Los Angeles, CA) and Owen Huff were dueling it out as each pitcher had only allowed one hit and no runs. Chad Sutton (JR/Scottsdale, AZ) stepped to the plate in the bottom of the fifth and hit a homer to left to break things open for the Pride. After Matt Land walked, E. Weeks pinch ran and made his way to third. Buckson stepped to the plate and hit a high fly ball to the center fielder which allowed E. Weeks to score from third to make it 3-0.
A leadoff double from Conner would kick off the bottom of the sixth and J. Weeks would hit an RBI single to right to tack on another run. Sutton stepped into the box and hit a no-doubter to left, the ball striking off the top of the netting for his second home run of the game. With two on and two outs, Riker scored the fifth and final run with an RBI double to left field. Park, Jakob Farmer (JR/Norwalk, CA), Sergio Montano (SR/El Centro, CA), and Liam Neri (JR/Clinton, CT) combined to pitch nine innings of shutout baseball, only allowing one hit during the duration of the second game of the doubleheader.
"The second game was a dog fight as we were both strong on defense until the fifth inning that's when we really took it to them and started scoring some runs," said Chad Sutton. "Our pitchers did a great job of limiting their chances and our offense continued to be great. We played as a team and won as a team today, great win overall."
Next Game: Friday, February 21st at Menlo College with the doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m.
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