COSTA MESA – First baseman Antonio Omphroy (SR/Honolulu, HI) delivered a solo shot in the bottom of the 10th inning to complete a Vanguard baseball comeback in Friday's 4-3 victory over Arizona Christian at Dean Harvey Field.

It was the Golden State Athletic Conference opener for both teams. Omphroy turned on a pitch from Jordan Vickers and sent it into the left field netting to touch off a frenzied celebration at home plate with his teammates.

Omphroy's second home run of the season spoiled an outstanding effort by Firestorm starting pitcher Adrian Santa Cruz, who was one out away from hurling a complete game.

The Lion lineup struggled against Santa Cruz for seven scoreless innings before getting to him for a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth, setting up Omphroy's heroics in extra innings.

Tommy Rodriguez (SR/Yucaipa, CA), Fred Buckson (SO/Silverdale, WA) and Tyler Gordon (FR/Orange, CA) all went 2-for-4 to pace the VU offense. The Lions used five pitchers, and got 2.2 solid innings of relief from Bryce Barnett (JR/Laguna Niguel, CA), who struck out five and walked none.

Arizona Christian scored single runs in the second, third and seventh to build a 3-0 lead, and looked to be in firm control before the Lions clawed back. Six different Firestorm had one hit, including a solo shot from Marques Titialii In the seventh.

The Lions have now won five straight. They had their first extra inning affair this season.

What Happened?: VU ace Justin Graves (SR/Irvine, CA) took the mound for the Blue and Gold looking to set the school's career wins record. He battled through five innings and threw 105 pitches, 58 for strikes. Graves allowed just three hits and two runs (one earned), but also walked five while striking out five.

The Firestorm scratched out an unearned run on Graves in the second. After Tanner Vielguth walked, Troy Collins hit a double play grounder to third. The Lions got the lead runner, but the relay throw was wild and that allowed Collins to reach second. ACU eventually loaded the bases as back-to-back walks scored Collins for the 1-0 lead.

In the third, Graves looked locked in as he struck out Titialii and Enrique Porchas for two quick outs. However, he plunked Vielguth with a pitch, followed by an RBI double to deep left center by Collins. Graves worked through a pair of two, two-out walks in the fifth, getting Joe Terlizzi to whiff to end the inning.

Titialli touched VU reliever Nate Madole (JR/Huntington Beach, CA) for a solo home run in the seventh. The ball hit the top of and bounded over the fence in right field as the Firestorm opened up a 3-0 lead. Two more ACU batters got on base via the walk as the Lions summoned Barnett from the bullpen. Barnett whiffed Terlizzi and pinch hitter Trey Tarver to prevent any further damage.

Barnett kept the Lions in the game as he struck out five of the nine batters he faced over his 2.2 innings of work.

Meanwhile, the Lions had runners in scoring position against Santa Cruz in the first, third, fourth and fifth, but came up empty each time. He also got the Lions to hit into double plays in the first and seventh. Santa Cruz struck out nine and did not walk a batter in his stint.

But Vanguard finally broke through in the eighth. Rodriguez led off the inning by taking Santa Cruz deep over the left field wall for his second dinger of the season, trimming the deficit to 3-1.

Still, Santa Cruz bore down and retired the next three Lions without any further issue.

The Lions appeared on the verge of defeat as Santa Cruz struck out the first two batters he faced in the ninth. Santa Cruz, who had commanded the strike zone for the entirety of the game, issued consecutive hit by pitches to Corey Jarrell (JR/Brewster, WA) and Emiliano Alarcon (SO/Monmouth, OR).

Tyler Gordon produced an infield hit to shortstop that was deep enough to allow Jarrell to score from second, cutting the Lion deficit to 3-2.

ACU then removed Santa Cruz for Vickers in an attempted save situation. Gordon stole second and the Firestorm opted to intentionally walk Rodriguez to load the bases.

The Firestorm hit their third batter of the inning as Buckson took the dose from Vickers, which enabled pinch runner Aaron Zubiate (SR/Alta Loma, CA) to tie the score at 3-3.

Gage Webster (SO/Anchorage, AK) and Jackson Webber (SR/Bothell, WA) combined to pitch a scoreless 10th to pave the way for Omphroy in the bottom half.

Why Is It Important?: The last three Lion victories have come by two runs or less.

What Was Said?: "Credit Arizona Christian for a well played game. I thought Bryce Barnett pitched really well and helped give us an opportunity to make the late comeback," said Head Coach Rob Pegg. "We got the offense going a little bit in the late innings, and Omphroy delivered when it counted after struggling in his previous at-bats. Feels good to get this win but there's more work to be done tomorrow."

What's Next?: The Lions and Firestorm play a Saturday doubleheader to conclude their three-game GSAC series. Game one first pitch is 11:00 a.m. at Dean Harvey Field.