COSTA MESA, Calif. - The Vanguard Lions (19-6, 7-3) rode an onslaught of offense to a pair of wins over San Diego Christian College (13-12, 2-8). The Pride scored a total of 30 runs on 21 hits as they were able to keep pace to stay near the top of the standings in a very competitive conference. They will look to ride this momentum as they will jump right back into games three and four of the series tomorrow against the Hawks.
Game 1: Vanguard University 21, Hope International 2
After a throwing error kept the first inning alive for the Lions, Joe Johnson (JR/Medford, OR) and Aki Buckson (JR/Silverdale, WA) would score on another error to give the Blue and Gold an early two-run lead. Josh Weeks (SR/Murrieta, CA) would keep things rolling in the second inning by hitting a SAC fly to right to score Matt Land from third. VU loaded the bases in the third inning and a couple of sacrifice flies and an RBI single by Elijah Weeks (SO/Murrieta, CA) would give the Lions a 6-0 lead.
In the fourth inning, the Pride loaded the bases once again and a walk and a hit-by-pitch would score two more. J. Weeks would tally one of his four RBI's with a single up the middle and the Lions would take a nine-run lead. Vanguard nearly doubled their lead in the fifth inning as they scored ten runs to essentially put the game out of reach. Both teams scored two runs in the eighth inning and the first game of the day would end 21-2 in favor of the Blue and Gold. Garrett Molnar (SR/La Habra, CA) would earn the win as he only allowed two hits in six innings of work while striking out eight.
Game 2: Vanguard University 9, Menlo College 2
Landon Riker (SR/Marysville, WA) continued his strong play in the second game as he hit a two-run shot to open up the scoring for the Lions in the first inning of the second game. Not to be outdone, Aki Buckson stepped to the plate and hit a solo shot to deep center to extend the early lead to three. In the second inning, consecutive doubles by Kevin Miser (JR/Ridgefield, WA) and Elijah Weeks would keep things rolling. Two throwing errors would bring two more runners home and the Lions would build a 6-0 lead.
The Hawks would score two runs in the bottom of the third, but the Lions would tally another run in the top of the sixth as Josh Weeks hit an RBI single up the middle to score Matt Land from third. The Pride would load the bases in the seventh inning and score from a fielder's choice and a SAC fly to extend their lead to seven. Brian Park (FR/Los Angeles, CA) would earn the win in the second game as he pitched six innings, striking out eight while only allowing five hits.
Next Game: Saturday, March 7th for the second half of the four-game series against San Diego Christian College starting at 11:00 a.m.
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