COSTA MESA – The Vanguard baseball team earned an 8-1 victory against Bethesda on Wednesday at Dean Harvey Field behind six strong innings from pitcher Nate Madole (JR/Huntington Beach, CA).

The game initially was scheduled to be played on Friday, but rain in the forecast necessitated the switch to Wednesday.

Madole drew his first career start and pitched impressively, scattering five hits and yielding just an unearned run during his stint. He walked one and struck out six while throwing 92 pitches. The junior college transfer picked up his first career win as a member of the Blue and Gold.

Six Lions combined to bust out nine hits, with two-hit performances coming from Fred Buckson (SO/Silverdale, WA), Adam Stevens (SR/West Linn, OR) and Emiliano Alarcon (SO/Monmouth, OR). Aaron Zubiate (SR/Alta Loma, CA) came in as a late inning replacement and got into the scoring act with a two-RBI double.

The Lions snapped a string of eight straight games without scoring a run in the first inning, plating two off Roberto Novela to stake Madole to an early lead. VU last scored in the opening frame on Feb. 10 against SAGU.

Both teams committed four errors apiece.

Novela (1-1) took the loss as he lasted just two innings, giving up two hits and two runs (one earned).

The 16th-ranked Lions are now 14-3 on the season, while the Flames fell to 5-11.

What Happened?: Madole navigated through the first with a pair of strikeouts after a Flame got to second base.

The Lions capitalized in the bottom half as Tommy Rodriguez (SR/Yucaipa, CA) reached first on an error by the Bethesda first baseman. Buckson singled to advance Rodriguez to third. Dane Nakatsuka (SR/Laguna Niguel, CA) picked up an RBI on a groundout to first that scored Rodriguez. Buckson used his speed to score the second run, stealing third and scampering home on Novela's wild pitch.

The Flames got their lone run in the third as Miguel Santos and Aaron Fernandez led off with back-to-back singles. On Fernandez's hit, Madole was charged with an error as his attempt to nab him at first eluded the VU first baseman. With both runners moving up a base, Justin Martinez hit a run-scoring grounder to short to plate Santos.

Madole escaped further trouble with a strikeout of Erick Rodriguez and a ground out to Ryan Pruett.

The Lions benefitted from a pair of walks to begin the fourth off Flame reliever Jake Spence. Alarcon stepped up and delivered an RBI single to left to score Stevens. The Lions then loaded the bases on a wild pitch and a walk, and Tyler Gordon (FR/Orange, CA) cashed in pinch runner Zubiate on a sac fly to left.

VU increased the lead to 5-1 in the fifth after Nakatsuka lifted a one-out triple to the right center alley, and came home on a Stevens double to left.

Madole wiggled out of trouble in the fourth after back-to-back singles put Flames on first and second. But Madole got Fernandez on a comebacker to end the threat. He retired seven of the last eight hitters before turning the game over to the bullpen.

Jacob Dahlstrom (JR/Renton, WA), Kyle Hoskins (SR/Tustin, CA) and Charlie Pierce (SR/Huntington Beach, CA) all threw an inning of scoreless relief for the Lions.

VU collected three more runs in the eighth to complete the scoring. With runners at first and second, Christopher Famolaro (SO/San Diego, CA) laced an RBI single to left to make it 6-1. Zubiate then doubled into the left field corner to bring around Famolaro and Alarcon, who earlier had reached on an infield hit.

Why Is It Important?: The Lions continue to get superb pitching. Over the last four games, the VU staff has recorded a 0.56 ERA with two runs allowed in 32.0 innings pitched.

What Was Said?: "I'm happy we were able to score early as we had not done that in awhile," said Head Coach Rob Pegg. "Everyone pitched well, especially Nate who ate up some innings for us. We got some timely hits too."

What's Next?: Vanguard and Bethesda are scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 11:00 a.m. Rain is expected to occur over the next three days, so please visit VanguardLions.com for updates.