COSTA MESA -- Vanguard University baseball lost two games in a row for only the second time all season Friday in a pair of matchups against Hope International. The Lions fell 7-6 and 8-6, dropping to 33-8 overall and 16-6 in Golden State Athletic Conference play. HIU goes to 3-1 overall and 18-4 in GSAC, climbing to hold sole possession of second place behind Westmont.
What Happened? G1: The Lions had Lucas Bixby (JR/DeWitt, IA) on the mound to start the day and he gave up three singles to load the bases. But the Iowa native buckled down and got a strikeout and a flyout to escape the inning without conceding a run. That brought HIU's Ryan Lachemann to the mound and he quickly went through the VU lineup in the bottom half.
Bixby sent the Royals down in order in the top of the second and VU opened the scoring in the home half of the frame. Joe Johnson (SR/Medford, OR) and Chad Sutton (SR/Scottsdale, AZ) singled, with Oscar Diaz (SO/Los Angeles, CA) taking a walk to load up the bases. Vanguard was able to cash in off another walk taken by Kevin Miser (SR/Ridgefield, WA) to make it 1-0. Travis Aversa (SR/Fountain Valley, CA) came up next and he singled to bring in Sutton, making it 2-0. Ian McIntyre (JR/Tempe, AZ) then hit into a double play but Elijah Weeks (SR/Murrieta, CA), who had been running for Diaz, was able to score, as VU took a 3-0 lead into the third.
After another clean inning from Bixby, the Lions produced some more run support for their starter. Johnson boomed a triple to dead center field and Sutton took a walk to start the bottom of the third. Forcing Lachemann from the game, Diaz flipped a single out to center off the new pitcher. Sutton raced all the way around from first to score, beating the throw, as Diaz was able to sneak to second on the play. Ahead 5-0, all seemed to be going to plan.
However, the Royals had other ideas. A two-run homer got the inning started for HIU, which was then followed by a double. A sac-bunt got the runner to third and the Royals got him home on a ground out. A double a couple of batters later brought home two more, as the Royals tied the game in a flash. But McIntyre was able to cover up the inning on one swing of the bat in the bottom of the fourth, as he cleared the fence in the left-field corner to put the Lions up 6-5.
The scoring dried up from there, as the pitchers were able to keep both offenses at bay. Bixby was pulled in the top of the seventh after a leadoff double, and Quincy Vassar (JR/Brewster, WA) jogged out from the pen. He got two-straight flyouts and a ground out to end the seventh with the lead intact. But things went awry in the top of the eighth.
The Royals got a pair of singles to start the frame and a sac-bunt got the runners to second and third. Toby Welty (SR/Colorado Springs, CO) was given the ball and he got the next hitter to strike out swinging. But the next batter walked and the fourth ball skipped to the backstop, allowing a run to come in and the runner on second to get to third. A few pitches later, the runner on first tried to steal second. Diaz threw it to second and Matthew Land (SR/Eugene, OR) made the catch, throwing it back to Diaz as the runner on third broke for home. But the ball arrived too late and Hope claimed a 7-6 lead.
The Lions got only one hit over the final two innings, as the Royals kept the lead, with Raul Herrada picking up the two-inning save. HIU scored seven runs on 10 hits, leaving eight runners on base. VU scored six runs on 10 hits, leaving five on base. Bixby went six, with two strikeouts and five earned runs. Vassar gave up the final two runs, falling to 2-2. Bailey Roberson got the win in relief for the Royals, going to 5-1. Johnson led the Lions with three hits, with Land and Diaz getting two apiece. Diaz had two RBI to lead the way for the home side.
G2: Both starters were great for the first three innings, as Hector Garcia and Justin Graves (JR/Irvine, CA) gave up zero hits through that span. But the top of the fourth proved to be the downfall for Graves and the Lions in game two.
It all seemed to be ok, as, despite a leadoff walk, Graves got a strikeout and a flyout in quick succession. But the Royals then refused to go down, with the next batter getting hit by a pitch and the following one flipping out a single to center to put HIU ahead 1-0. An error on a close play at second made it 2-0 and a double made it 4-0. A single followed to make it 5-0, with another error allowing the inning to continue. Another Royal was beaned to load up the bases and Graves then pegged the next hitter as well, pushing the gap to 6-0. A double made it 8-0 before Graves got a ground out to leave the inning behind.
Garcia was clinical, keeping the Lions to one hit through six innings. Tyler Armenta (SR/Anaheim, CA) had a good outing for 1.1 innings and Bryce Barnett (SO/Laguna Niguel, CA) had a clean inning in the top of the sixth. Donny Smith (JR/Alta Loma, CA) set the Royals down in order in the seventh and the team went to the bottom half chasing eight.
But the chase was on indeed, as Aki Buckson (SR/Silverdale, WA) took the first pitch of the frame and bombed it over the fence in left to finally put the Blue and Gold on the board. Diaz then singled as did Adam Stevens (JR/West Linn, OR), with Aversa keeping in lockstep by swatting another single to left. With the bases now loaded, Tommy Rodriguez (JR/Yucaipa, CA) took a walk to score another run and McIntyre hit a sac-fly to make it 8-3.
Herrada returned and got the second out but the Lions were not done yet. Land singled to load up the bases again and Johnson walked to make it 8-4. Buckson, up for the second time in the frame, smacked a single to center to score two and make it 8-6. Diaz again singled to load up the bases once more, as the tension mounted. But Herrada was able to then get the final out, leaving the comeback just short, as Hope International took the 8-6 win.
Graves falls to 7-1, as he earned six of the eight runs he gave up. Garcia goes to 7-1 in the winning cause, as he gave up five and struck out five over six and one-third innings. Herrada picked up his seventh save in the process. HIU had eight runs on five hits, with one error and three runners left on base. VU had six runs on eight hits, with three errors and five runners left on base. Buckson, Diaz, and Aversa each had two hits, with Buckson netting three RBI.
What's Next? The Lions will have two more tomorrow against the Royals, starting at 11:00 a.m.
