IRVINE, Calif. -- Tournament Champions!  Unphased by entering the Golden State Athletic Conference Softball Tournament as the fourth seed, the Vanguard Lions won three of four games at the 2023 Tournament to claim the GSAC crown over the Hope Internaitonal Royals in a 3-1 victory Wednesday night.  The Royals had defeated VU 1-0 in an epic 11-inning pitching duel in the first game of the day, but the Lions claimed a victory in the second contest thanks to a gem from LeeAnne Miranda and a three-run bomb by Bianca Morales.  Vanguard earns an automatic berth in the NAIA Softball World Series and will wait to see where they head for the Opening Round.  VU will go to 26-28 overall and the trophy, with Hope going to 39-14.  This is the first time since 2017 that VU had won the GSAC Tournament
 
What Happened?  The second all-or-nothing game started with Kaylie Williams pocketing the first hit of the game for VU in the top of the first, but HIU's Olivia Candelas quickly got the third out from there.  in the home half of the period, Miranda allowed a one-out single and another Royal reached on a grounder to put two on with one out.  But Miranda escaped by getting two ground outs to strand a pair of runners on base. 
 
The Blue and Gold would take the lead in the top of the fourth and would not look back.  Ashley Klopfenstein led off with a deep double to left field and Williams was intentionally walked.  Mackenzie Hofmann bunted the pair to second and third, bringing Morales to the dish.  The VU first baseman did not hesitate as she belted the first pitch she saw over the fence for her fourth home run of the season to put the Lions ahead 3-0.
 
Allie Puente would eventually replace Candelas and she would keep the Lions in check, allowing only two VU batters to reach on hits.  That meant the pressure continued to mount on Miranda as the game progressed, but she stood tall in the circle despite the Royals breaking through in the bottom of the fifth.  
 
Hope International got a single with one out and a ground out got the runner to second.  Alena De La Torre doubled to put Hope on the board, but they still trailed 3-1.  Miranda got another ground out to end the inning and continued to pitch well in the sixth.  Even though the Royals got smacked another double, Miranda got a strikeout and a flyout to end the threat. 
 
The bottom of the seventh opened with a line out to first before HIU got a base knock.  Miranda did not falter, getting two more ground outs to give Vanguard the 3-1 victory, as the last seed in the tournament brushed the field aside to pick up the GSAC Tournament title.
 
The Lions scored three runs on six hits and left four runners on base.  HIU had one run on six hits and left six on board.  Miranda fanned four but did not walk any batters, throwing 101 pitches and improving to 6-5 on the season.  Candelas drops to 6-6.  Williams went 2-for-2 and four other Lions picked up hits.
 
 
The aces of the two teams had pitched beautifully in the early game, as VU eventually came up in the opening bid to snag the trophy.  Brianna Williams and Allie Puente both went the 11 innings need to determine a winner, with both throwing well over 100 pitches.  Even though Puente had thrown multiple games yesterday, she still struck out 12 hitters on 152 pitches, giving up only three hits, improving to 28-3 on the season with the 1-0 win.
 
Williams was still quite effective despite allowing eight hits, as she struck out three and worked her way out of a few jams during the contest.    
 
Vanguard's defense shone brightly behind her in the game, as the team did not commit an error and picked up a few special moments.  The first big play was made by Tiffany Pope in the top of the seventh.  A two-out single saw a Royal try to score from second.  The VU right fielder came up firing and made a perfect throw to Kaylie Williams at the plate, who applied the tag in time to end the inning.  A similar throw was made in the top of the ninth, as a single to center was handled by Noni Chaves, who made another accurate throw to the plate to record the second out of the frame, which helped out to keep HIU off the board.
 
Credit was also due to Klopfenstein, who made three important hit-saving plays at second base.  She twice dove all the way to her right to rob HIU players of singles and then added a flourish in the top of the 10th.  She jumped and caught a liner on a big hop before landing and throwing out  the runner at first to rack up a double play and again help VU exit the field quickly.

However, HIU would win the game in the top of the 11th with a single and a double and though Chaves got a double in the bottom half, VU could not tie the score, which forced the second game of the night.
 
HIU scored one run on eight hits, had one error, and left six on base.  VU had three hits and five left aboard.  Kaylie Williams had a triple as the first VU hit of the ball game.