POINT LOMA, Calif. - The Vanguard University Baseball team (19-3) would prove their mettle against Point Loma Nazarene University (1-3) on Saturday afternoon as the Lions earned two wins to take the series three games to one. In game one, the Pride needed some late-game heroics to come away with a 9-8 victory but cruised to a 10-2 victory in the second game.
What Happened?
Game One: The Sea Lions were able to get on the board first with a leadoff triple by Otto Kemp; Brett O'Toole would bring Kemp home with a single up the middle. The Lions would respond in the bottom of the frame as Omar Ortiz would ground out to the pitcher to score Aki Buckson from third. PLNU would keep their momentum rolling in the second as an RBI single by Easton Waterman and a SAC fly by Izayah Alvarez would give the Sea Lions a 3-1 lead.
The Lions would cut their deficit back down to one in the bottom of the second as a leadoff double by Tommy Rodriguez and a single by Luke Arias would put a runner in scoring position. Elijah Weeks would lay down a perfect sacrifice bunt to score Rodriguez from third. Point Loma would continue their outpouring of offense in the top of the third as Justin Ledgerwood doubled to right-center to bring in two runs. Waterman's single up the middle would score another. Baxter Halligan would clear the center field fence by a couple of feet in the top of the fourth to push the lead to 7-2.
In the top of the sixth, the Sea Lions would tally another run as they loaded the bases and advanced on a wild pitch. Charlie Pierce would come in for relief and strike out Scott Anderson to get out of the jam.In the bottom of the frame, Tommy Rodriguez would hit a triple down the right-field line and Luke Arias would bring him home with a single to left to cut the Lions' deficit to five.
The Pride would put some pressure on the Sea Lions in the bottom of the seventh as two singles and a walk would load the bases. Omar Ortiz would slap a double down the right-field line to clear the bases and shift the score to 8-6 in favor of the visitors. Rodriguez would step up to the plate and hit his second double of the day to deep left-center to bring home Ortiz to bring the Pride back within one. In the bottom of the eighth, Grady Conner would send a solo shot to deep left to tie things up after being down 2-8 in the top of the sixth. Two batters later, Aki Buckson would hammer a ball to left field that barely stayed in the park to give the Pride a 9-8 lead. Matt Lester would earn the save as he recorded the final two outs to seal the game-one win.
Game Two: The Lions were able to strike first in game one as Riker singled down the left-field line and advanced to third with a double by Buckson. Tommy Rodriguez would bring both runners home with a single that sliced away from the second baseman into left to give the Lions a 2-0 lead early on. The Pride loaded the bases in the bottom of the second, courtesy of a single, error, and a walk, before Landon Riker singled up the middle to score Miser and Lee, pushing the Lions' lead to four. The Sea Lions would respond in the top of the third inning as Otto Kemp hit a two-run shot to left to cut PLNU's deficit in half.
The Blue and Gold would get on the board once again in the bottom of the fourth as Grady Conner got on with a single and advanced to third thanks to an error by the third baseman. Chad Sutton would hit a fly ball that was deep enough for Conner to tag up and score. Aki Buckson would keep things rolling as his single to left-center would score two more runs, giving the Pride a 7-2 advantage. The Sea Lions loaded the bases in the top of the fifth, but Jared Greer was able to force a groundout to Elijah Weeks who recorded the 6-3 double play to get out of the jam. In the bottom of the fifth, Chad Sutton would put the icing on the cake with a three-run shot to right, his third homer of the year, to seal the 10-2 win. Why It's Important? This series was a big test for the 18th-ranked Lions as they took on a program that ranked 9th in Division Two of the NCAA. The Lions would outscore the Sea Lions 24-14 over the course of the four-game series and have now won nine of their last ten games.
Top Performers: Tommy Rodriguez went 4-7 with three doubles and a triple and an RBI while Aki Buckson went 4-8 with three RBI and a massive home run that would be the game-winner in the first game. Landon Riker would also go 4-8 on the day to go with two RBI and three runs.
What They Said: "Honestly, we were all just trying to stay loose during practice as we knew that we had a big week coming up," said Tommy Rodriguez. "We were very excited to get the wins against a team that is ranked ninth in Division Two."
What's Next: Friday, March 12th against San Diego Christian with the first game of the doubleheader starting at 11:00 a.m.
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