COSTA MESA – The Vanguard baseball team used a mixture of offensive assault and shutdown pitching to sweep Menlo in a doubleheader at Dean Harvey Field on Friday.
The 15-6 and 6-1 victories extended the Lion win streak to eight straight, their second longest string of success since reeling off a school record 16 a row earlier this season.
Vanguard is 32-5 overall and 15-3 in the Golden State Athletic Conference. The Lions are now tied for first place in the GSAC with Hope International following Westmont's split with OUAZ on Friday.
Game 1 – Vanguard brought out the bats early and often, scoring at least one run in each of the first five innings. The Lions led 9-2 after just three innings.
After an Oscar Diaz (SO/Los Angeles, CA) RBI groundout in the first gave Vanguard a 1-0 lead, the Lions touched Menlo starter Logan Snow for three more in the second.
The Lions did their damage courtesy of three straight run-scoring hits, initiated by an Isaiah Lee (SR/Santa Ana, CA) single and continued by an Ian McIntyre (JR/Tempe, AZ) double and Matthew Land (SR/Eugene, OR) single.
Menlo strung together four straight hits in the second off Lion starter Lucas Bixby (JR/DeWitt, IA), scoring a pair of runs on Blake Dompier's 2-RBI single to left center.
But Vanguard erupted for five runs in the third to go up 9-2 and chase Snow from the game. Snow plunked the first two batters in Tommy Rodriguez (JR/Yucaipa, CA) and Travis Aversa (SR/Fountain Valley, CA), prompting the Oaks to call on reliever Adrian Lopez.
With one out, McIntyre unloaded on a Lopez hanging curve ball and sent a three-run shot into the upper netting in left field. His second homer of the year was also VU's 37th of the season, which is tied for 13th-most in the NAIA.
The Lions weren't done as two singles and a walk loaded the bases for Diaz, who stroked a double into left center to score Aki Buckson (SR/Silverdale, WA) and Joe Johnson (SR/Medford, OR).
Menlo pulled two runs back in the fourth on Joey Selvaggio's double to trim its deficit to 9-4.
Aversa's sacrifice fly plated Rodriguez in the bottom half to extend the lead to 10-4.
The Lions got a big game from the cleanup spot as Diaz, who finished 2-for-5 with four RBIs, singled in Land in the bottom of the fifth.
VU's bats stayed quiet until a four-run uprising in the eighth. The Lions collected five straight singles off Oaks reliever Christian Peterson as Aversa, Lee and McIntyre had RBI knocks.
Aidan Mulligan entered to stop the floodgates, and Land promptly greeted him with a single. Land finished the game 5-for-6 with a run scored and an RBI. The five hits tied a single-game school record originally set by Eric Krzysiak against Biola on March 27, 2010.
Bixby got the win to improve to 7-0, allowing eight hits and four runs in five innings. Quincy Vassar (JR/Brewster, WA) was electric out of the bullpen, blanking the Oaks for three innings and striking out three.
Menlo scored a pair of runs in the ninth on uncharacteristic back-to-back balks.
The Lions banged out 19 hits, tying for the third-most in a game this season. Buckson registered his seventh consecutive multi-hit game, going 3-for-5. Making just his third start, McIntyre made the most of his opportunity with a 3-for-5 day. He scored twice and had a career-best five RBIs.
Game 2 – Justin Graves (JR/Irvine, CA) turned in a brilliant performance on the mound, allowing just two hits and one run in his first career complete game. He threw an efficient 72 pitches in the 6-1, seven inning victory.
The southpaw improved to 7-1 on the season. He struck out five to increase his conference-leading strikeout total to 69. Over his last eight starts, Graves has a 2.57 ERA.
For the sixth straight game, Vanguard struck first on the scoreboard. The Lions notched two runs in the first and three more in the third to stake Graves to a 5-0 lead.
Buckson doubled home Land and Sutton followed with a sac fly to give the Lions a 2-0 advantage after one inning.
In the third, Land walked, stole second and came home on Johnson's shot through the right side. Buckson walked to put two runners on, and with one out, Sutton doubled deep to center to score two.
Graves had more than enough run support as he retired the first seven hitters he faced. He set the Oaks down in order in the first, second, fourth, fifth and sixth innings. After Cooper Paulino's bunt single in the third, Graves steamrolled through the rest of the order as he sat down another 10 straight batters.
Menlo got a leadoff double from Donny Bendo in the seventh, and the Oaks scored their lone run on an RBI groundout from Selvaggio.
Graves ended the game with a strikeout of Zion Springer.
Sutton finished 1-for-2 with three RBIs, while Buckson both scored and drove in a pair of runs. The Lions also stole three bases, and rank fourth in the country with 102 on the year.
Why Is It Important?: The GSAC has become a three-team race between Vanguard, Hope International and Westmont. The Lions are tied for first after just passing the midpoint of the league schedule.
What Was Said?: "Great to see contributions from guys who haven't had much opportunity today," said Head Coach Rob Pegg. "Guys continue to work hard and push one another. We'll need another strong effort tomorrow."
What's Next?: The Lions play another doubleheader against Menlo on Saturday, with game one beginning at 11:00 a.m.
