IRVINE, Calif. – Westmont scored three ninth inning runs to hand Vanguard a 6-3 loss at the Golden State Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament on Tuesday at the OC Great Park.

The Lions fell to 43-12 and dropped into the loser's bracket, meaning they will need to win four straight games over two days to capture the title. The Warriors improved to 42-9 and advance to the winner's bracket, where they will face Hope International in a battle of 2-0 teams.

What Happened?: The two were deadlocked at 3-3 heading into the top of the ninth inning. Jackson Webber (SR/Bothell, WA) had thrown two scoreless innings of relief and headed out for his third inning of work. Westmont third baseman Ryan Desaegher led off with a comebacker to Webber, who bobbled the ball and overthrew the first baseman for an error.

Robbie Haw lined a double down the left field line as Desaegher hustled all the way from first for the go-ahead run. Brady Renck laid down a bunt single to advance Haw to third. Simon Reid followed with a sac fly to right field, and Renck reached second as the Lions threw behind the runner.

Renck then stole third and came home on a Thomas Rudinsky RBI groundout to shortstop.

With the score tied 3-3 in the seventh, Vanguard had its best chance to surge ahead as the first two batters got aboard via a single from Matthew Land (SR/Eugene, OR) and a walk to Travis Aversa (SR/Fountain Valley, CA). However, Warrior reliever Zach Yates retired the next three hitters on a pair of strikeouts and a pop up.

VU took a 2-0 lead in the third when Aversa led off with a single to center, followed by a Tommy Rodriguez (JR/Yucaipa, CA) two-run home run, his fifth of the year.

Dylan McDonald (JR/Pacifica, CA) started for the Lions on the mound, cruising through the first four innings as the Warriors managed just two walks and a single.

But Westmont tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth after putting the leadoff runner on for the third time. Josh Rego and Parker O'Neil had back-to-back singles, and moved up 90 feet on Justin Rodriguez's sac bunt. McDonald fanned Paul Mezurashi for the second out, but could not escape the threat as Desaegher doubled into the left field corner to score both runs.

Westmont loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth. McDonald did well to limit the Warriors to one run on a sac fly from Rodriguez.

Trailing 3-2, the Lions responded right away in the bottom half as singles from Oscar Diaz (SO/Los Angeles, CA) and Chad Sutton (SR/Scottsdale, AZ) put runners at the corners with one out. Dane Nakatsuka (JR/Laguna Niguel, CA) lifted a fly ball to left that was more than deep enough to score Sutton for an RBI sac fly.

Webber retired six of the first eight batters he faced before running into trouble in the ninth.

McDonald went six innings, giving up six hits and three runs. He walked four and struck out six. Westmont starter Bradley Heacock yielded three runs in 5.2 innings.

Zach Yates picked up the win for Westmont as he provided 2.2 innings of effective one-hit relief. Webber took the list after giving up three runs (two earned) in 2.1 innings.

Rodriguez and Diaz both went 2-for-4 at the plate.

Why Is It Important?: The Lions pitching depth will now be tested as they will need to win twice on Wednesday and two more times on Thursday to become tournament champions.

What's Next?: VU plays an elimination game at 2:00 p.m. against sixth-seed William Jessup. With a win, the Lions would face another elimination game against the loser of Westmont or Hope International.