LEWISTON, Idaho – Facing elimination in the Lewiston Bracket of the 2022 NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round, presented by Avista, Vanguard used a 16-hit attack to knock off Saint Katherine, 8-3, on Tuesday morning at Harris Field.

The second-seeded Lions improved to 44-14 and advanced to tonight's second elimination game against No. 4 seed British Columbia. The Firebirds ended their season at 31-23.

The Lions scored at least one run in seven of the nine frames, benefiting from six Saint Katherine errors which led to four unearned runs.

VU, which went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position in Monday's loss to Doane, applied pressure to Firebird pitching throughout the game as they had at least one runner at second in eight of the nine innings. VU ended up going 5-for-24 with runners in scoring position.

Pitcher Lucas Bixby (JR/DeWitt, IA) delivered another stellar performance for the Lion pitching staff. He became VU's second straight starter to go the distance in this regional, throwing eight shutout innings before allowing three runs to Saint Katherine in the ninth. He allowed 10 hits, did not walk a batter and struck out four in an efficient 102 pitches.

Bixby improved to 10-0 on the season, and is one of just eight pitchers across the country to remain unbeaten on the year with 10 or more victories.

What Happened?: Vanguard manufactured a 1-0 lead in the first as Matthew Land (SR/Eugene, OR) and Travis Aversa (SR/Fountain Valley, CA) opened with back-to-back singles. The two pulled off a double steal – and Tommy Rodriguez (JR/Yucaipa, CA) walked with one out. Joe Johnson (SR/Medford, OR) followed with an RBI groundout to second to score Land.

Land and Aversa sparked another scoring opportunity in the third. Land started off with an opposite field single to left center and then stole second base, his 12th in 13 chances this season. Aversa stroked a single past the second baseman as Land scampered home for the 2-0 lead. Aversa, who advanced to second on the throw home, was stranded as the next two Lions struck out.

The Lions extended the lead to 3-0 with another run in the fifth, beginning a string of five straight innings with at least one run. With one out, Aversa notched his third hit and moved to second as Aki Buckson (SR/Silverdale, WA) got hit by the pitch. Aversa was picked off second for the second out, but Buckson stole his conference-leading 38th stolen base on the next pitch. The Lions cashed in on the scoring opportunity as Tommy Rodriguez doubled deep into the right center gap to easily score Buckson.

VU took advantage of a Firebird fielding miscue in the sixth. Isaiah Lee (SR/Santa Ana, CA) led off with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch off Saint Katherine starter Seth Spencer. Chad Sutton (SR/Scottsdale, AZ) hit one deep into the hole that the shortstop fielded cleanly, but his throw bounced under the first baseman's glove for an error, allowing Lee to score on the play.

Up 4-0, the Lions tacked on another run in the seventh. Aversa doubled to put the leadoff man on for the fifth time in seven innings. It was his career-high tying fourth hit of the game. He moved to third on a wild pitch, and came home on a Rodriguez sac fly to left.

Three more Firebird errors led to two more VU runs in the eighth. Leadoff hitter Sutton legged out a grounder to shortstop for an infield hit and took second on an errant throw into right field. Luke Arias (JR/Spring Valley, CA) singled sharply into left field to put runners at the corners. Elijah Weeks (SR/Murrieta, CA) replaced Arias at first as a courtesy runner and was aggressive, taking off for second to record his 20th stolen base of the season. Firebird catcher Cody Rawson airmailed the throw into center field as Sutton scored easily for VU's sixth run.

Weeks then moved to third on a balk. The Firebird implosion continued on Buckson's routine grounder, as the third baseman's throw to first came up short for an error, sending Weeks home for a 7-0 VU advantage.

VU scored another unearned run in the ninth as Saint Katherine committed its sixth error. The second baseman muffed a routine grounder from pinch hitter Kevin Miser (SR/Ridgefield, WA), who hustled to second when the ball rolled into right field. Sutton singled to right for his third hit of the game, and Arias hit a sac fly to left to score Miser.

Bixby set down 12 of the first 14 hitters through four innings. In the fifth, he faced runners at second and third but fanned Johnny Lopez to end the inning.

The Firebirds mustered some offense in the ninth on an RBI groundout from Devin Padua and a two-run home run from John Freeman to end Bixby's shutout bid.

Notes

• Vanguard's 16 hits was the team's most since churning out 19 against Menlo on March 25.

• Land and Aversa combined to go 6-for-11 from the top two spots in the order, and the duo is 8-for-16 in the Lewiston Regional.

• Rodriguez posted two hits for the second straight game in the regional.

• Sutton busted out of an 0-for-13 slump with a three-hit effort.

• The Lions have a pair of 10-win pitchers for the first time in school history in Bixby and Justin Graves (JR/Irvine, CA).

What's Next?: Tonight's first pitch between Vanguard and British Columbia is slated for 6:00 p.m.