IRVINE, Calif. – Despite a first inning grand slam from Joe Johnson (SR/Medford, OR), Vanguard's offense went flat in a 6-4 loss to William Jessup which eliminated the Lions from the Golden State Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament.

The Lions finished 1-2 in the tournament, which took place at the Orange County Great Park. VU fell to 43-13 overall. They await the announcement of the NAIA National Championship Selection Show on Thursday, May 12 at 2:00 p.m. (PDT) in anticipation of receiving an at-large bid to the 46-team field.

What Happened?: Vanguard could not have scripted a better start to Wednesday's loser's bracket game after splitting the regular season series against the Warriors.

As the designated visiting team, the Lions immediately went to work against William Jessup starter Christian Winston. Matthew Land (SR/Eugene, OR) got plunked by a pitch to lead off the inning. Dane Nakatsuka (JR/Laguna Niguel, CA) eluded the tag on a slow roller down the first base line to put two runners aboard. Isaiah Lee (SR/Santa Ana, CA) walked to load the bases with one out.

Johnson pounced on an 0-1 pitch and deposited it onto the grassy hill beyond the right center field fence for a grand slam and 4-0 lead. It was Johnson's conference-leading 16th big fly of the season.

The Lions were unable to muster any runs off Winston from that point on. They did threaten in the second as Land and Tommy Rodriguez (JR/Yucaipa, CA) got hit by pitches, followed by a double steal that put runners on second and third. But Winston fanned three Lions, including Lee to end the inning.

In the third, Johnson was nailed by a pitch – the fourth HBP of the game by Winston – and promptly stole second. But Winston eluded damage with a strikeout and ground out.

From that point, Winston set down 12 straight Lions and did not allow another VU runner until a one-out walk to Land in the seventh. The Lions eventually loaded the bases, chasing Winston from the game as the southpaw finished with nine strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work.

The pitching change worked effectively as Marlin Brucato induced an inning-ending double play to squash the scoring opportunity.

The VU scoring drought allowed William Jessup to chip away at the deficit. The Warriors got one run in the second on a Landon Weiss sacrifice fly.

In the fourth, Joseph Hayden singled and moved to second as the VU pitcher could not make the play on Connor Franco's routine grounder. The error put two runners aboard, and Kayde Iranon sacrificed them up 90 feet. Jaisten Cabatbat drove in Hayden on a sacrifice fly and Weiss singled through the left side to plate Franco, cutting the VU lead to 4-3.

The Warriors continued to peck away and tied the score in the fifth. VU starter Tyler Armenta (SR/Anaheim, CA) got the first two outs, but allowed a single to Dylan Cole and a walk to Hayden. Franco followed with an RBI single to right center.

William Jessup scored the game-winning run in the seventh as the normally stingy VU defense committed its second error of the game. Lion reliever Caden Byers (FR/Murrieta, CA) hit Nic Hadd with a pitch, and Hadd stole second.

Cole hit a ball to the right side that eluded the outstretched arm of Byers and landed near a charging Land, who appeared to have enough on his throw to beat Cole at the first base bag. But the ball squirted away from Johnson, allowing Hadd to score from second for the 5-4 lead.

The Warriors added an insurance run in the eighth off VU relievers Quincy Vassar (JR/Brewster, WA) and Jared Greer (SR/Anaheim, CA). Vassar allowed a leadoff walk to Iranon and a double to Cabatbat. With runners at second and third, the Lions called upon Greer, who threw a pitch that catcher Luke Arias (JR/Spring Valley, CA) could not corral. The passed ball scored pinch runner Noah Takayama.

VU's defense has committed nine errors over the last five games after making the same number over the previous 13.

Why Is It Important?: The quest for a GSAC Tournament title is no longer in play, but the Lions will get nearly two weeks of rest before hopefully beginning regional play.

What's Next?: Should the Lions receive an at-large bid into the NAIA Tournament Opening Round, they would begin competition on Monday, May 16 at a location and against an opponent to be determined.