COSTA MESA – The Vanguard baseball team pounded out 35 hits and scored 34 runs to defeat SAGU American Indian 16-6 and 18-0 to complete a three-game sweep on Friday at Dean Harvey Field.
The Lions outscored the Warriors 48-7 over the three games to improve to 22-11 on the season. The Warriors fell to 6-20.
VU scored a run in eight of its 13 innings at bat with Fred Buckson having an exceptional day at the plate. He finished 6-for-8 with a double, home run, four runs scored and seven RBI.
Nino Vultaggio went 4-for-7 with four runs scored and leadoff man Tevis Payne also collected four hits with three RBI.
Senior first baseman Antonio Omphroy slammed his fifth home run of the season.
In total, 13 Lions had at least one hit, including Chase Easter-Hairston with his first career knock.
The Lions are now 13-1 this season when scoring 10 or more runs in a game.
What Happened?
Game 1 – Vanguard 16, SAGU American Indian 6
The game started out as a pitcher's duel with VU's Kevin Pence, who made his first career start for the Blue and Gold. Carson Padilla was his counterpart for the Warriors.
Pence allowed three singles in the first as Justin Stockton drove in a run. He put up a couple of zeroes after that and finished with three strikeouts in three innings of work.
Padilla held the Lions to a pair of singles and two walks through the first two innings as VU could not dent the scoreboard. That all changed in the fourth when the Lions exploded for six runs.
Five straight hits from the Blue and Gold resulted in three runs to begin the inning. Jarred Mazzaferro had a run-scoring double and Abe Hernandez an RBI single. The Lions brought home a run on a Steven Casas ground out, which chased Padilla in favor of Pedro Camacho.
Camacho allowed a sacrifice fly to Payne for the fifth Lion run, and Vultaggio, who had earlier singled, stole third base and trotted home after the catcher's throw was airmailed into left field.
VU reliever Jackson Webber gave up five unearned runs in the fifth as the Warriors evened the score at 6-6. Two fielding errors at third base helped prolong the inning, and Manuel Frias-Moreno capitalized with a two-run single to right. Stockton then hit a three-run home run to left.
But the Lions punished Camacho in the bottom half with an eight-run uprising. The Lions pounced with five singles, two walks and two hit by pitches in the inning. Payne drew a bases loaded hit by pitch to drive in one run. VU played station-to-station as consecutive singles by Vultaggio, Oscar Diaz and Buckson caused a carousel of runners touching home plate.
The Warrior left fielder failed to field Buckson's single – and three runs came across as the ball rolled all the way to the wall. Buckson received one RBI on the play.
SAGU American Indian called on Eddie Aceves to extinguish the rally, and he did after allowing an RBI groundout to Hernandez.
With a 14-6 lead, the Lions scored single runs in the sixth and seventh to invoke the 10-run mercy rule. Nate Madole lifted a ground rule double to center to score Casas, who led off with a two-bagger of his own.
The Lions ended the game in the seventh after back-to-back walks, followed by a Hernandez double down the left field line.
Webber improved to 2-0 as he pitched well despite giving up the five unearned runs. The lefty struck out three and did not walk a batter in 2.0 innings of work. Bryce Barnett and Dakota Henson each tossed a scoreless inning.
Camacho received the loss after giving up six hits and nine runs (six earned) in one-plus innings.
Game 2 – Vanguard 18, SAGU American Indian 0
The Lions put the game out of reach after scoring 14 runs through the first three innings.
VU had 19 hits and seven walks for the game, making an easy winner out of Quincy Vassar. The southpaw logged 4.0 scoreless innings, giving up just two hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.
The Blue and Gold pounced on SAGU American Indian starter Robert Rust with a four-run first inning. Buckson and Madole had RBI singles, and Stevens drove in a pair with a base hit to center field.
VU turned to the long ball to fortify the scoreboard in the second. After Vultaggio and Diaz posted back-to-back singles, Buckson clubbed a three-run shot to left off Jordon King to give the Lions a 7-0 lead. Omphroy followed suit as he deposited a King offering into the left field netting.
Walks to Stevens and Chris Brown gave Payne an RBI opportunity, and he obliged with an RBI single to left to open up a 14-0 Lion lead.
The Lions scored four more times in the fifth as Easter-Hairston tallied an RBI double for his first career hit. Evan Avitia contributed an RBI single, and VU scored its final two runs with the bases loaded, getting a walk from Buckson and a hit by pitch from Brendan Wagner.
Vassar struck out the side in the second and fanned two more in the third.
The Lions used four relievers to eat up the next three innings, as Daniel Vega, Pablo Small, Dylan Scott and Mitch Hunter did not allow a run. Scott made his first career appearance and recorded a strikeout against the only batter he faced.
Hunter also fanned a pair of hitters in the seventh.
Vassar improved to 2-3 on the year, while Rust dropped to 2-2.
Why Is It Important?: The Lions hit .495 (49-for-99) for the series.
What's Next?: The Blue and Gold take on future Pac West Conference and NCAA Division II member Hawaii Pacific on Monday, March 25. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. at Dean Harvey Field.
