COSTA MESA, Calif. - In the deciding game of the 2021 Golden State Athletic Conference Baseball Championship, the Vanguard University earned their first-ever GSAC Tournament Championship title by a score of 9-8 with a nailbiter of a game against OUAZ as 16 of the 17 total runs were scored with two outs on the board.
What Happened? The Lions couldn't have asked for a better start as Grady Conner drew a leadoff walk in the top of the second and the Spirit pitcher proceed to plunk the next two batters to load the bases with two outs. Travis Aversa ripped a comebacker up the middle to score two, Landon Riker doubled to right-center to score two more, and Aki Buckson singled to record the fifth run of the inning. OUAZ would respond with a rally of their own in the bottom of the frame as they loaded the bases and put together a two-out rally of their own as back-to-back singles would make it a 5-3 game in favor of the Lions.
The Spirit put runners on the corners in the bottom of the third and Dion Reese would cut the deficit to one with a single into left field. The Lions would immediately counter in the top of the fourth as Kevin Miser reached on a throwing error by the shortstop and Travis Aversa would advance Joshua Weeks the pinch runner to second on a fielder's choice. Buckson would record his second RBI of the day with a double to left-center to give the Pride a 6-4 lead.
Two singles and a sacrifice bunt put two runners in scoring position for OUAZ with only one out in the bottom of the fifth, but Garrett Molnar got one looking and forced a groundout to get out of the inning unscathed. The Lions offense started to come alive once again in the top of the sixth as Landon Riker started a two-out rally with a single through the left side. Aki Buckson and Joe Johnson drew walks to load the bases for Omar Ortiz who hit a ground-rule double to deep left-center to give the Lions an 8-4 lead.
The Spirit fought back in the bottom of the eighth as they got two runners in scoring position with a single, walk, and fielder's choice. Adrian Salazar would come in clutch for the designated home team as he hit a three-run home run that barely cleared the fencing in left field to make it a one-run game with one inning to play. With two on and two out, Aversa continued his postseason heroics as he hit a ground-rule double to deep right to give the Lions a two-run cushion heading into the bottom of the ninth. The Spirit gave it all they had as they got it back to a one-run game with a triple and a single, but Michael Kashou would come on in relief and earn the save to seal the win for the Blue and Gold.
Why It's Important? The Lions earned their first-ever GSAC Tournament Championship title after winning their first regular-season GSAC Championship just ten days earlier. With two outs on the board, the Lions hit .471 compared to .289 overall and had nine two-out RBI. This season the Lions recorded their third-highest win total of all-time and will head back to the National Tournament for the seventh time in program history.
Top Performers: Travis Aversa was spectacular at the plate once again as he went 3-6 with three RBI and a run. Aki Buckson went 3-4 with a walk and two RBI, and Landon Riker went 2-6 with two RBI and two runs. Anthony Castillo only allowed two hits in two innings of work and Michael Kashou earned his first save of the year to kickstart the celebration at Dean Harvey Field.
What They Said: "It honestly feels surreal. This team fought really hard and it all started in the fall," said Landon Riker. It's been a long season and it's been a grind but we wanted to finish it out strong. And do what we know we could've done. That's all it was, the expectations we had for ourselves coming in here. And it feels really nice to fulfill that expectation," said Joe Johnson.
What's Next: The Lions will wait for the announcement of their pairing for the NAIA Opening Round after earning an automatic bid.
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