COSTA MESA – It was a tale of two games in Saturday's baseball doubleheader against Arizona Christian, as 16th-ranked Vanguard fell in a 14-13 slugfest before battling back to win a 2-1 pitcher's duel.

Game one featured 27 runs and 33 hits, including 15 that went for extra bases. Dean Harvey Field doubled as a launching pad as six of those extra base hits were home runs – five by Arizona Christian.

Runs were at a premium in game two as the Lions trotted out Dylan McDonald (SR/Pacifica, CA), who calmed the Firestorm bats in a brilliant complete game performance. He allowed three hits and one run while striking out six in the seven-inning game.

Tyler Gordon (FR/Orange, CA) went 5-for-5 in game one and 6-for-8 for the doubleheader as one of the hitting stars for the Lions. Dane Nakatsuka (SR/Laguna Niguel, CA) was 4-for-8 with three RBI. Antonio Omphroy (SR/Honolulu, HI) went 2-for-4 with three RBI in game one, blasting a home run for the second straight contest. Fred Buckson (SO/Silverdale, WA) delivered the game-winning RBI in the rubber matchup with a solo shot of his own.

The Lions are now 11-3 on the season and 2-1 in the Golden State Athletic Conference, playing in three consecutive one-run games against a formidable Firestorm squad. ACU is now 10-5 overall and 1-2 in conference play.

What Happened?

Game 1 – After the Lions scored four runs over the final three innings to complete a 4-3, 10-inning comeback victory on Friday, the Firestorm wasted no time getting their bats going in the morning opener.

ACU scored three runs in the first and another in the second to open a 4-0 lead. The Firestorm added two more in the fourth and a five-spot in the fifth, leading 11-1 before the Lions made a furious comeback.

Lion starter Jacob Dahlstrom (JR/Renton, WA) struggled in his four innings, allowing nine hits and six runs. Marques Titialii delivered a run-scoring double in the first and Enrique Porchas followed with a two-run blast to right for a 3-0 lead.

Daniel Durazo hit a solo shot in the second to extend the ACU lead to 4-0.

The Lions snatched a run back in the third on an RBI groundout by Tommy Rodriguez (SR/Yucaipa, CA), but Justin Ramirez slammed a two-run homer to left in the top half of the fourth as ACU led 6-1.

The Firestorm looked to put the game out of reach with a five-run outburst in the fifth off Lion relievers Jake Hiner (FR/Hemet, CA) and Toby Welty (SR/Colorado Springs, CO). Titialii capped off the big inning with a three-run blast to left.

VU began its comeback in the bottom half of the fifth with a seven-run uprising that knocked ACU starter Jackson Hohensee from the game and prevented him from getting the win.

With the bases loaded and two outs, Nakatsuka poked a two-run single to center to get the Lions within 11-3. Adam Stevens (SR/West Linn, OR) got hit by a pitch to reload the bases, and Oscar Diaz (JR/Los Angeles, CA) followed with a single to right to plate two more.

Mackenzie Salmon replaced Hohensee and promptly yielded a double to Omphroy, which scored pinch runner Aaron Zubiate (SR/Alta Loma, CA) and Stevens to cut the Lion deficit to 11-7. Pinch hitter Marco Lopez (FR/Torrance, CA) got Omphroy home after the ACU shortstop muffed a ground ball that squirted away.

Both teams traded runs in the sixth, and Titialli hit his second home run of the game, a solo shot in the seventh.

Rodriguez cut the ACU lead to 13-10 with an RBI single in the eighth, but the Firestorm upped the lead back to four via an unearned run in the ninth. Brandon Lees reached on an error and later came around on Durazo's RBI single.

The Lions did not give up the fight as they engineered a two-out rally off ACU reliever Riley Quinton in the ninth. Omphroy cranked a solo home run to left center to cut ACU's lead to 14-11.

Corey Jarrell (JR/Brewster, WA) singled and Emiliano Alarcon (SO/Monmouth, OR) doubled to put two runners into scoring position. Quinton was called for a balk, enabling Jarrell to score and make it 14-12. Gordon legged out an infield single to plate Alarcon and pull the Lions within one.

Rodriguez followed with another infield single as VU put the tying run on second base. But Buckson's fly ball to center ended the comeback effort.

Game 2 – McDonald and ACU counterpart Eli Elliot set a much different tone as the two hurlers silenced the bats for the most part.

McDonald retired six of the first seven Firestorm hitters – three by strikeouts. The Lions put runners on the corners with two outs in their half of the second, but Elliot induced a ground ball to end the threat.

Two VU errors in the third enabled ACU to get runners on the corners, but McDonald fanned Titialii to extinguish that threat as well.

The Lions used their speed to scratch out a run in the third. Rodriguez stole second and came around to score after Nakatsuka's shot ricocheted off Elliot and past the Firestorm shortstop.

Buckson provided a huge insurance run for the Blue and Gold in the fourth as he cleared the left field fence.

McDonald's only blemish occurred in the sixth when Titialii led off with an opposite field home run to cut the Lion lead in half. The Firestorm got a runner to second later in the inning, but McDonald retired Troy Collins on a fly out.

McDonald completed his masterpiece after issuing his only walk to pinch hitter Oliver Frias in the top half of the seventh, getting Ramirez to ground into a game-ending 5-4-3 double play. The right-hander improved to 2-0 with an efficient 82-pitch effort.

Why Is It Important?: The Lions won an entertaining series in which all three games were decided by one run. Four of VU's last five games have been one-run affairs.

What Was Said?: "I thought we were going to complete the comeback in the first game but came up just short," said Head Coach Rob Pegg. "Credit McDonald for settling things down in the second game and giving us a solid effort. We really showed our toughness in grinding out that win in game two. ACU is a really good team, so we're happy to get that series win."

What's Next?: The Lions host La Sierra for a doubleheader on Monday. First pitch in game one is 11:00 a.m.