LINCOLN, Calif. – The Vanguard baseball team swept both ends of a doubleheader at William Jessup on Friday afternoon, winning 7-6 and 9-1 in seven innings.
The Lions are now 37-8 overall and 20-6 in Golden State Athletic Conference action. The Warriors fell to 20-23 and 9-17 in league play.
What Happened? Game 1 – The Lions received seven solid innings from starting pitcher Lucas Bixby (JR/DeWitt, IA), but scraped out the 7-6 victory as the bullpen struggled to preserve a late lead.
Vanguard stormed out to a 5-0 lead, scoring four in the second and one in the third. William Jessup starter Danny Chavez retired five of the first six Lions, but the bottom of the order got things rolling with two outs and a runner on first.
Three straight singles by Tommy Rodriguez (JR/Yucaipa, CA), Adam Stevens (JR/West Linn, OR) and Ian McIntyre (JR/Tempe, AZ) scored a pair of run. After a walk to Matthew Land (SR/Eugene, OR), Travis Aversa (SR/Fountain Valley, CA) stroked an opposite field single to left to plate McIntyre and Stevens for a 4-0 lead.
In the third, Joe Johnson (SR/Medford, OR) led off with his eighth double of the year. With two outs, Rodriguez got Johnson home with a single to right field.
The Warriors trimmed the deficit to 5-2 after collecting solo homers in the third from Kevin Gutierrez and Connor Franco in the sixth.
Those were the only blemish marks on Bixby's line, as he scattered eight hits while walking none and striking out four in his seven innings. The Warriors managed to put a pair of runners on in three of the first four innings, but each time Bixby wiggled out of the jam.
Vanguard extended the lead to 7-2 with a pair of crucial runs in the seventh. Land drew a one out walk, and came around on a double from Aki Buckson (SR/Silverdale, WA). Johnson followed with another two-bagger to score Buckson as the first baseman finished the game 2-for-5.
The runs were important as William Jessup mounted a four-run rally in the eighth to tighten the game. The Warriors touched up Jacob Morales (JR/Arcadia, CA) in one-third of an inning, the big blow a three-run home run by Connor Lane. Jared Greer (SR/Anaheim, CA) then took over for Morales, and plunked Joseph Hayden with a pitch. With two outs, Kayde Iranon singled to put a pair of runners on. Kawaiola Takemura then drove him pinch runner Brandon Springer with a single to right.
Caden Byers (FR/Murrieta, CA) came to the rescue, picking off Takemura to end the eighth. He allowed a leadoff walk in the William Jessup ninth, but recovered and sat down the next three Warriors to secure his fourth save of the season.
VU produced nine hits from seven different players, including two hits apiece from Johnson and Rodriguez. Aversa drove in a pair of runs.
Game 2 – The Vanguard offense got to work early once again, building a 7-1 lead through the first two innings. The Lions victimized Warrior starter Kristian Hernandez for all seven runs (five earned).
Land doubled to lead off the game and moved to third as the WJU shortstop committed an error on Aversa's grounder. Buckson drove home Land with a single for the 1-0 lead. With two outs, Rodriguez singled to center to plate Aversa as VU went up 2-0.
That was more than enough run support for VU starter Justin Graves (JR/Irvine, CA), who allowed just one run in six solid innings. He yielded the run in WJU's half of the first on a triple and a ground out. Graves walked only two and struck out seven. He improved to 8-2 on the year.
The Lions walloped the scoreboard for five more runs in the second as a pair of one-out walks and an Aversa single scored a pair of runs. That set the table for the heart of the VU order.
Buckson and Johnson obliged with back-to-back home runs. Buckson's was a two-run shot to left, his sixth of the season. Johnson's solo blast was his team-leading ninth of the year and his first since March 12 against The Master's.
With a six-run cushion, Graves dealt with runners in scoring position in the second, third and fifth innings, but sustained no damage. He picked off a runner off first to erase a leadoff walk in the fourth.
Graves also pitched a clean sixth to leave the game after throwing 104 pitches.
The Lions struck for two more runs in the fifth as McIntyre cashed in pinch hitter Elijah Weeks (SR/Murrieta, CA), who had led off with a single, on a sac fly, followed by Cameron Hirahara (SR/Grover Beach, CA)'s fielders choice RBI.
Quincy Vassar (JR/Brewster, WA) inherited a bases-loaded, no-out situation in the Warrior seventh, but got a pop up and pair of strikeouts to end the game.
Buckson finished 2-for-4 with three RBI to lead the VU charge. Aversa went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Why Is It Important?: The Lions picked up ground on league-leading Westmont, which is idle this weekend. VU can get within a game of the Warriors by weekend's end, but need to beat William Jessup two more times on Saturday.
What Was Said?: "Both starting pitchers gave us strong efforts," said Head Coach Rob Pegg. "Offense was opportunistic in game one and had better focus in game two. We'll need to continue to compete well tomorrow."
What's Next?: Vanguard and William Jessup begin another doubleheader on Saturday with game one first pitch set for 11:00 a.m.
