COSTA MESA – Vanguard scored in every inning and junior pitcher Jesus Munguia fanned 10 batters in a 14-1 baseball victory over SAGU American Indian on Friday.
The game lasted seven innings as both coaches agreed to implement the mercy rule if either team led by 10 or more runs at the seven-inning mark.
Munguia improved to 3-0 in lowering his ERA to 2.81. The right-hander posted his second double-digit strikeout performance of the year, second only to the 11 he whiffed against Ave Maria on February 1. He scattered five hits and did not allow a walk in the 87-pitch effort.
VU put up three runs in the first, second, third and fifth innings, and sprinkled in a single run in the fourth and sixth. Ten different Lions recorded at least one hit in a 14-hit attack, with Nino Vultaggio, Jarred Mazzaferro, Levi Hall and Noah Madole contributing two apiece.
Redshirt freshman Chris Brown belted his first career home run and junior Fred Buckson drove in three runs. Third baseman Adam Stevens made his first appearance since February 1 after missing 26 games due to injury.
Justin Burns (0-5) took the loss for SAGU American Indian after allowing nine runs (seven earned) in 3.0 innings. Zachary Walsh led the Warriors offensively with a 2-for-4 performance and he scored their lone run.
VU won its 20th game while the Warriors fell to 6-18 on the year.
What Happened?
The Lions scored a pair of runs in the first when Buckson's fly ball was dropped by the Warrior right fielder, allowing pinch runner Christopher Famolaro and Tevis Payne to score. Mazzaferro later dropped a base hit into right center to plate Buckson for the 3-0 VU lead.
Hall and Madole collected back-to-back doubles to put the Lions up 4-0 in the second. With the bases loaded, Buckson struck a 2-RBI single to right center as Vultaggio and Stevens scored.
The Lions increased their lead to 7-0 in the third on a Stevens single, which scored Hall. Madole, who got on via a hit by pitch, came home after Payne lifted a sacrifice fly to right. Vultaggio completed the Blue and Gold's third straight three-run inning with an opposite field knock to score Stevens.
Mazzaferro drove in his second run with an RBI single in the fourth to widen VU's lead to 10-0. Brown, who replaced Payne in right field to start the fourth, clubbed a leadoff homer in the fifth in his first plate appearance of the game.
VU loaded the bases after Warrior reliever Alvincent Mansfield Jr. hit Famolaro with a pitch and walked Diaz and Brendan Wagner. Caleb Oddo drove in a run with a groundout to shortstop, and Madole made the score 13-0 with a base hit up the middle.
Famolaro got plunked for the second time with one out in the sixth. After he advanced to second on a wild pitch, Brian Paymard earned his first RBI as a Lion with a solid single to center.
The Warriors scored a run in the seventh on a ground out from Manuel Frias-Moreno, bringing home Walsh, who singled with one away.
Freshman Khoi Anderson and redshirt freshman Joey Cordola made their first career appearances as Lions, and were battery mates when Anderson got Justin Stockton to ground out to shortstop for the final out.
Why Is It Important?: The Lions scored double-digit runs for the 12th time this season and are 11-1 in those games.
What's Next?: Vanguard and SAGU American Indian play a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 10:00 a.m.
