GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Vanguard softball opened Golden State Athletic Conference play Friday with a doubleheader against Arizona Christian and though the Lions trailed in each game, they blazed the comeback trail in each contest.  In game one, the lineup produced two runs in the top of the eighth inning to swipe a 3-2 win over the Firestorm.  In the evening test, the Blue and Gold flipped the scoreboard with five unanswered runs to complete the sweep with a 5-3 victory.  The wins vault Vanguard to the top of the GSAC standings after match-day one, as VU improves to 15-5 overall and 2-0 in the conference, while ACU falls to 15-9, 0-2.
 
 
What Happened?  Savannah Smith was the starter for ACU and the Lions did not pick up a hit against her over the first three innings.  Brianna Williams got the nod for the Blue and Gold and the Firestorm chucked a run on the board in the bottom of the second off of her, as three singles in a row put Arizona Christian ahead 1-0.
 
But the Lions reeled ACU back in with the tying run in the top of the fourth.  Kamryn Walker took a one-out walk and she used her speed to get to third on a single by Adriana Portillo.  Bianca Morales was the next hitter and she sent a ball deep to left field, and though it was caught, it was deep enough to bring Walker to the plate to tie the score at 1-1.
 
From there, there was only one hit over the next three innings, which was a double by Noni Chaves in the top of the sixth.  Outside of that, both starters were clinical in keeping the offenses bottled up, which led to extra innings.
 
With the arrival of the eighth inning came the international tiebreaker protocol and Williams was placed on second as a result.  Mackenzie Hofmann bunted her to third base and though it was a job well done, it turned out to not be that crucial.  That is because pinch hitter Carli Row came to the plate next and she smoked a ball down the right-field line that bounced around in the corner.  Williams easily scored and Row slid into third with a triple to push Vanguard ahead 2-1.  Chaves then hit a slow ball to the ACU shortstop and her only play was at first, as Row touched the plate to increase the advantage to 3-1. 
 
Williams started the bottom of the eighth with a pop out in foul territory and then got a ground out, though that did allow the ACU runner on second to scamper to third.  A single then made it 3-2, but another pop out in foul territory gave the Lions a 3-2 victory. 
 
VU scored three runs on three hits, had one error, and left two runners on base.  Arizona Christian scored two runs on four hits and left four runners on base.  Williams improves to 7-2 and Smith falls to 8-5, as both pitchers threw the entire game.  Williams had one strikeout and one walk in the opening game.
 
Game 2
Dayna Herrera got the start for ACU in game two and though Walker got a single in the top of the first, a double play ended the opening frame soon after.  That brought Vanessa Robles to the circle and the VU starter had a clean first inning.  But she ran into trouble in the bottom of the second, as the Firestorm put up three runs on two hits to surge ahead 3-0.
 
The Lions were unphased by the small deficit and started to chip away at the lead in the top of the fourth.  Walker came to the plate with one out and she launched a ball to the right-field fence. As she headed to third, the ACU defense tried to throw her out, but the shortstop made a bad throw,  which allowed Walker to turn for home and cross the plate to clip the lead to 3-1.
 
Robles kept the Firestorm from putting up any more runs as the game moved along and the offense picked her up again in the top of the fifth.  Lilyana Roth came to the dish with two outs and she belted a tasty pitch over the left-field fence for her first career home run, as her solo shot made trimmed the score to 3-2.
 
The bats swatted Vanguard into the lead in the top of the sixth, as Walker started the rally with a one-out single.  Row them mashed a double to center field, with Walker coming around to score to level things at 3-3.  Megan Ireland pinch ran for Row and she was able to speed home on a double by Morales to give VU a 4-3 edge.  Mia Hernandez came to the plate after that with two outs and hit a hard ball to second.  The ACU second baseman had some issues on the transfer and made a bad throw to first which allowed Hernandez to reach base safely and Morales to score to increase the Vanguard lead to 5-3.
 
Robles gave up a leadoff single in the bottom of the seventh and the Lions called Williams out of the pen to seal the deal.  She did just that, as the defense quickly turned a double play for the first two outs.  Williams got the next batter to hit a fly out to hand the Lions a 5-3 win.
 
The Lions scored five runs on seven hits, had three errors, and left two runners aboard.  ACU had three runs on seven hits, two errors, and left eight on the base paths.  Robles picks up the win to improve to 4-1 and Williams gets her third save of the campaign.
 
Walker was 3-for-3 from the plate in game two and scored two VU runs.  Row went 2-for-3.
 
Why is it Important?  The Lions pick up their first sweep of ACU since April 6, 2019, and have now won three games in a row over ACU.  HIU and OUAZ split to open their league season, with Jessup and Menlo set to play tomorrow.
 
What was Said?  "We showed a lot of fight today, coming from behind in both games.  Playing after a two-hour delay is never easy.  I couldn't think of a better way for our team to start conference play," said Head Coach Sydney Lahners.
 
What's Next?  The Lions play OUAZ tomorrow starting at 10:00 a.m.