COSTA MESA – Vanguard's top of the order finished a combined 6-for-11 at the plate as baseball secured an 8-2 victory over Whittier at Dean Harvey Field.
Corey Jarrell, Fred Buckson and Michael Downtain delivered two hits apiece and totaled five runs to make a winner out of junior pitcher Jacob Dahlstrom, who made his season debut on Monday afternoon.
The right-hander threw 3.0 innings on a designated "staff" day in which six Lion relievers tossed an inning apiece. Dahlstrom walked one and struck out four while allowing an unearned run in a 46-pitch stint.
Kegan Wentz, Kevin Pence, Daniel Vega, Pablo Small and Jesus Barreto each hurled a scoreless inning. The pitching staff fanned 11 Poets to work around four walks and three hit batters.
Vanguard pieced together three-run outbursts in the third and seventh innings, while Buckson unloaded his second homer of the season in the fifth.
Whittier starter Maximus Berber took the loss after throwing 2.2 innings, walking two and striking out three. All three runs he allowed were unearned as the Poet infield committed a pair of errors in the third.
The Lions improved to 6-4 overall, while the Poets played their season debut.
What Happened?: Whittier took a 1-0 lead in the first after Delvan Gomez was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a passed ball. Teige Barrett brought home Gomez on an RBI single to left.
The Lions struck for three runs in the third as Steven Casas drew a leadoff walk. Jarrell followed with a single, and the two runners advanced a base on Downtown's one-out grounder to first. The Poet second baseman then muffed a routine grounder to second by Diaz as both Casas and Jarrell scampered home.
Pinch runner Aaron Zubiate moved to second on a wild pitch, and hustled home as the Whittier third baseman committed a throwing error on Antonio Omphroy's grounder.
VU extended its lead to 4-1 in the fourth as Nino Vultaggio collected an infield single and stole second. Vultaggio advanced to third on a grounder from Casas, and touched home plate on a wild pitch by Whittier reliever Owen Moore.
Buckson crushed a solo homer halfway up the netting in left field to lead off the fifth as the Lions led 5-1.
The Blue and Gold completed their scoring with a three-run seventh. Buckson notched his second RBI with a RBI single up the middle, scoring Jarrell who hit a one-out opposite field double. After Buckson swiped second, Downtain logged another opposite field double, with Buckson advancing to third. Buckson scored on a wild pitch, and Diaz laced a single to left to bring home Downtain for the 8-1 lead.
Whittier got one run back in the eighth as Berber began with a one-out double. He moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on an infield single.
Why Is It Important?: The Lions got several contributions as the offense put together an eight-hit attack with an additional three walks and three hits batsmen, while seven VU pitchers limited the Poets to just four hits. The VU defense also played an error free game.
What Was Said?: "Good to get back in the win column," said Head Coach Rob Pegg. "Happy to see many pitchers getting back to full strength and conditioning. It was a solid team effort."
What's Next?: The Lions travel to northern California to face Menlo for a three-game conference series. The teams begin play on Friday at 2:00 p.m.
