COSTA MESA, Calif. – Vanguard Softball hosted Simpson University (RV) for the first of their two doubleheaders this week. The 8th ranked Lions won 3-2 which pushed their win streak to four games before the Red Hawks captured the second game by a 4-0 count as the Pride offense stalled out after batting 8-24 in their victory.
What Happened? In the first game, the Red Hawks struck first, plating a pair of runs in the second inning. Vanguard answered right back as Hannah Corrado (SO/Cypress, CA) tied the game on her two-out single. The Lions first took the lead in the third inning as Angelina Lopez (JR/Riverside, CA) came home off the base knock from Ashley Klopfeinstein. That would end the scoring for the contest as the Pride stranded three more runners on the base paths. During the backhalf of the double header, the Red Hawks struck first in the second inning and added a trio of runs in the next inning to take a commanding lead. The Lions cycled through starter Emmy Anderson (SO/Fort Collins, CO), reliever Samantha Vargas (FR/Grand Terrace, CA), before returning to Game One started Vanessa Dwyer (SR/Temple City, CA) to pitch the final three innings. Entering the bottom of the fifth inning, the Blue and Gold had only three hits and only managed one more base runner across the final nine outs.
Why It's Important? These two teams were scheduled to play on Lions Field last season, but the coronavirus pandemic shut down the sports world just one week prior. Vanguard holds a 10-7 record against Simpson in program history. This was the sixth out of seven total non-conference double headers before turning their attention to the 24 game GSAC slate.
Top Performers: Game One saw Johanna Lewis (SR/Madera, CA) and Bianca Morales (FR/Spring Valley, CA) both go 2-3 in the box while Dwyer (5-2) wins her fourth straight outing. She tossed all seven innings with four strikeouts and six hits allowed. During the second contest, Ariana Huffman was a perfect 2-2 with a drawn walk.
What They Said: Taylor Radtke (SR/Tucson, AZ) - "I think this game we really tried to take our energy from the second game against Azusa Pacific last weekend and we tried to channel that energy again because we had a great game against them. We just really wanted emphasize what we had then and bring it in today."
What's Next: Friday, March 5th against Benedictine University – Mesa at 1:00 p.m.
#ClawsUp
