GLENDALE, Ariz. – The ninth-ranked Vanguard baseball team completed the road series sweep of No. 23 Arizona Christian on Saturday at Apollo High School, leaving the Grand Canyon State with 9-8 and 8-3 victories in tow.
The Lions have taken at least three of four games in all four conference series and are 13-3 overall in the Golden State Athletic Conference. VU swept a conference opponent on the road for the first time since 2019 against OUAZ.
VU improved to 29-5 overall, one win shy of 30 victories for the seventh time in the last nine years. The Firestorm are 19-16 overall and 7-11 in conference play.
Game 1 – The Lions put the Firestorm in an early hole, scoring a pair of runs in each of the first three innings. Vanguard held on late for the win as ACU had the tying and winning runs on base in the ninth.
Matthew Land (SR/Eugene, OR) got things started in the first with a double. After a Chad Sutton (SR/Scottsdale, AZ) walk, Kevin Miser (SR/Ridgefield, WA) singled up the middle with two outs to score Land. A pickoff attempt successfully erased Miser from the basepaths, but in the ensuing rundown, Sutton scored before the out was recorded.
Land got involved again in the two-run second as his double to center scored both Travis Aversa (SR/Fountain Valley, CA) and Cameron Hirahara (SR/Grover Beach, CA).
The extra base hit played a role in the third as Tommy Rodriguez (JR/Yucaipa, CA) cashed in Aki Buckson (SR/Silverdale, WA) and Sutton, who had opened with consecutive singles. Buckson's hit knocked Firestorm starter Griffin Henry from the game after just two-plus innings.
Arizona Christian plated a run in the first on Manny Villa's RBI double, but Lions starter Tyler Armenta (SR/Anaheim, CA) tossed a pair of zeroes in the next two innings with a 6-1 lead.
However, Armenta encountered trouble in the fourth as the Firestorm rallied for four runs. Four of the first five ACU batters singled, leading to the first two runs and chasing Armenta from the game. With two runners aboard, Dylan McDonald (JR/Pacifica, CA) came on in relief and allowed a bases-clearing double to Caleb Beach.
The runs were charged to Armenta, who gave up eight hits and five runs in 3.1 innings.
The Firestorm evened the score at 6-6 as Justin Ramirez tripled off McDonald to lead off the fifth. Villa drove in Ramirez with a sac fly, but McDonald struck out the next two hitters.
VU applied the pressure once again with a crooked number in the sixth. Aversa sliced a double down the right field line to score Rodriguez, who had walked and advanced to second on a sac bunt. Leading 7-6, the Lions scored again when the ACU shortstop made an errant throw on a Luke Arias (JR/Spring Valley, CA) grounder. Heads up base running allowed Aversa to cross the plate for the 8-6 lead.
The Lions picked up a crucial insurance run in the ninth after Buckson tripled – the team's sixth extra base hit of the game – and came home on Miser's sac fly.
Jackson Webber (SR/Bothell, WA) provided two scoreless innings of stellar relief and handed the ball to Caden Byers (FR/Murrieta, CA) in the ninth for a save situation. The Firestorm threatened but the Lions survived a topsy-turvy inning after surrendering a pair of runs.
The inning began with Oscar Frias reaching first on an error and moving to second on a wild pitch. Trey Tarver singled to put runners at the corners. Frias came home on Ramirez's grounder to second. The Lions got pinch runner Brandon Lees on the force out at second, but VU committed an error while attempting to complete the double play.
With a runner on first, Villa smacked his third hit of the game to send Ramirez to third. Byers fanned Damien McElroy for the second out, but walked Marques Titialli to load the bags.
An infield single from Sean Garcia moved everyone up a base as Ramirez scored an unearned run to pull the Firestorm within 9-8.
However, Byers overcame the duress with his third save of the season as he forced pinch hitter Rhett Holmes into a lazy fly ball to center to end the game.
Game 2 – The Lions broke out to a lead for the fourth time in four games, notching a pair of runs in the first.
Land's leadoff single was followed by an RBI double from Joe Johnson (SR/Medford, OR) down the right field line for a 1-0 lead. Johnson later scored on an RBI single by Oscar Diaz (SO/Los Angeles, CA).
In the third, Diaz helped VU extend the lead to 3-0 as his second RBI hit scored Buckson, who singled and then swiped his conference-leading 24th base of the season.
Jesus Munguia (SO/Anaheim, CA) got his customary game four start on the mound for the Lions, and retired the first eight Firestorm hitters, including five via strikeout. However, ACU rallied with two outs in the third with a pair of runs.
A single and double put runners at second and third, and Tarver capitalized on his opportunity with a two-run double as ACU trimmed its deficit to 3-2.
The Lions bounced right back with three unearned runs in the fourth. Rodriguez singled, and stole second and third around an Aversa walk. Miser reached first on an error by the pitcher as Rodriguez scored for the 4-2 VU lead.
Hirahara's sac bunt moved the runners to second and third, and Land continued his big day with a two-RBI single to left. VU led 6-2, and that signaled the end of ACU's Jackson Hohensee's day on the bump.
VU added a pair of runs in the sixth and allowed one run to ACU in the fourth, but cruised to the 8-3 victory.
Munguia improved to 7-0 on the season, his seven wins tying Westmont's Eric Oseguera atop the league leaderboard. Toby Welty (SR/Colorado Springs, CO) retired all six batters he faced over the final two innings, including striking out the side in the sixth.
Land had a big day at the plate from the leadoff spot, finishing 4-for-7 with three runs scored, two doubles and four RBI in the doubleheader.
Why Is It Important?: The Lions are 10-2 in conference road games. Vanguard plays its next eight GSAC games – and 12 of its last 16 – at the friendly confines of Dean Harvey Field.
What Was Said?: "Pitchers were strong all weekend long and we had contributions from a lot of different guys," said Head Coach Rob Pegg. "It was a great team weekend overall."
What's Next?: The Lions host Bethesda for a single game on Tuesday, March 22 at 1:00 p.m.
