COSTA MESA, Calif. - The Vanguard University Baseball Team (34-10, 21-7) moved their win streak to four games with two wins over San Diego Christian College (3-36, 0-28). The Lions offense soared to new highs in game one as they tied the mark for the second-most runs (20) and hits (21) of all-time, and the most RBI of all-time (19) en route to a 20-3 win before riding a dominant performance from Brian Park in game two to a 3-0 victory.
What Happened?
Game One: The Lions wasted no time getting on the board as Travis Aversa started things off with a leadoff single and was brought home with Landon Riker's double into right-center. Joe Johnson would keep things rolling with a double that walked along the left-field line to score two. A fielding error would score more for the pride to set up Grady Conner's RBI single. Chad Sutton ripped a double to right-center to score two more as the Lions went through the order, building a 7-0 lead.
Conner would hit his third home run in three days in the top of the third, and Aki Buckson would rip an RBI double to left field to push the Lions' lead to double figures. The Pride would load the bases Isaiah Lee would hit his second grand slam in nine days as the explosion of offensive continued on in the third. When the dust had settled, the Lions carried a 14-0 lead into the bottom of the third. Vanguard would tack on another run in the top of the fourth as Joe Johnson found a gap in right-center to score Elijah Weeks from second. The Hawks would respond in the bottom of the frame as Dawson Pate hit a home run to left to get his team on the board.
SDCC loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth and scored on a wild pitch, but once again the Lions responded with five runs in the top of the seventh courtesy of an RBI double by Oscar Diaz, RBI singles by Weeks, Tommy Rodriguez, and Lee. The Hawks were able to plate another in the bottom of the seventh, but that is all the offense they would be able to manage as the Pride took the game by a score of 20-3.
Game Two: In the top of the first, Aki Buckson drew a walk and advanced to third on a single by Joe Johnson. Isaiah Lee would bring home Buckson with his sixth RBI of the day to give the Lions a 1-0 lead. After three innings of scoreless baseball, the Pride struck again as Buckson scored Aaron Zubiate with a two-out single. Vanguard would strike once more in the top of the seventh as Aki Buckson drew his third walk of the game before stealing second. He would score on a throwing error as the Hawks tried to turn a double play to end the inning. Brian Park would move to 7-0 as he only allowed two hits while striking out four in six innings of work, while Garrett Molnar would earn his second save of the year.
Why It's Important? Seven days earlier, the Lions broke multiple records in game one of the doubleheader against William Jessup University including the fourth-most runs scored in a game (18), recording the most hits in a single game (25), and tying for the most RBI (18) in a single game. Today, the Lions tied the mark for the second-most runs (20) and hits (21) of all-time, and the most RBI of all-time (19).
Top Performers: Justin Graves was fantastic once again in game one as he pitched six innings while only allowing four hits, striking out ten batters for his second straight outing. Isaiah Lee finished his day going 4-9 with six RBI; his five RBI in game one tied for the third-most in a game. Grady Conner went 5-7 with two RBI and two doubles in game two to round things out for the Blue and Gold.
What They Said: Our sideline reporter Maddie Thompson talked with Park and his catcher Kevin Miser after the game. Miser stated that "Brian just came out dominate today he got ahead of hitters all day, with 0-2s and 0-1s. So we fed off his success as he was pounding the zone and we fed off that as an offense." Park added that "from my last outing, I learned what I need to work on so I worked in it with miser last Wednesday and just came out stronger and better as executed my pitches better."
What's Next: The Lions will wrap up their regular season with a four-game series against (23) Westmont College that will start on Friday, April 23rd at 11:00 am.
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