COSTA MESA -- Vanguard baseball returned to the Dean Harvey Field on Saturday for two more Golden State Athletic Conference games against Menlo College.  However,  the Lions were surprised with a game one defeat, as MC took a lead in the top of the ninth and held on for an 8-7 win.  Rebounding with authority, Nino Vultaggio went 3-for-3 to lead the offense and Dyland McDonald and the defense blanked the Oaks, as Vanguard won 10-0.  VU claims the series and goes to 17-9 overall and 6-6 in GSAC play, with Menlo going to 5-14, 1-8.
 
 
What Happened?  Menlo jumped on Jacob Dahlstrom in the top of the first, as the visitors got two runners on with one out.  The Oaks got a single, but a great throw by Vultaggio in left to catcher Tevis Payne gunned an Oak down as he was coming in to score.  A walk then loaded up the bases and the Oaks scored two on a single, but the defense caught the batter between two bases and eventually applied a tag to end the frame. 
 
Menlo struck for the third run of the game in the top of the fourth with a home run, but the Blue and Gold erased the gap in the bottom half of the period.  Oscar Diaz singled and Payne followed him with another base knock to put Lions at first and second.  Antonio Omphroy walked to load the bases and Steven Casas came through with a single to right field to score the first run of the game for VU.  A wild pitch brought in another run and a two RBI single by Aaron Zubiate put the Lions ahead 4-3.
 
Dahlstrom kept Menlo quiet in the fifth and the lineup gave him another run in thanks, as Vultaggio reached on an error in the bottom half with one out.  He then stole second and a single down the right-field line by Diaz increased the VU edge to 5-3.
 
The Oaks planted a run in the top of the eighth, as a walk and a double made it 5-4.  However, the Lions poured on two more runs soon thereafter,  with Omphroy starting things off with a single.  Walks to Casas and Corey Jarrell juiced the bases and Vultaggio came through with a single to left to cash in two runs, as the Lions took a 7-4 lead into the ninth.
 
Unfortunately, neither Quincy Vassar nor Jesus Munguia could hold back the Oaks, who piled on four runs on four hits to swing back into the lead 8-7.  VU did have hope in the bottom of the ninth, as Diaz singled to lead off the frame.  The Oaks got the next two hitters out, which brought Omphroy to the plate.  He got a pitch he liked and blasted it to the wall in left, but a miraculous snag over the fence by the MC left field robber Omphroy of the walk-off home run, ending the game.
 
The Oaks scored eight runs on 11 hits and left seven runners on base.  The Lions had seven runs on 11 hits and stranded nine runners in the first game.  Each team had one error in the contest.  Dahlstrom had seven strikeouts and Vassar took the loss to drop to 1-2.  Diaz went 3-5, as did Payne.  Vultaggio and Zubiate paced VU with two RBI each.
 
Game 2
Dylan McDonald reigned in the Menlo offense, as he went 5.2 innings of two-hit shutout baseball.  He picked up four strikeouts on the afternoon and Pablo Small and Jesus Barreto helped to hold Menlo off the board in the contest.
 
Meanwhile, the offense scored in five innings to take the double-digit victory.  Vultaggio took a walk with one out in the first and then stole second.  Fred Buckson was up next and he was tagged by a pitch, with Diaz taking a walk to load up the bases.  Payne hit a fly ball that brought in Vultaggio, and though the Lions would have liked to score a few more, the offense did not dry up.
 
The bottom of the second saw the team put up two runs, as Abe Hernandez got hit by a pitch to start the frame.  Zubiate pinch ran for him and he quickly stole second.  With first base open, Casas took a walk, and a sacrifice bunt by Jarred Mazzaferro allowed each runner to advance one base.  A wild pitch scored Zubiate and a Vultaggio single brought in Casas to make it 3-0.
 
Diaz took a base on balls to open the bottom of the third and Payne plopped down a single to put two Lions aboard.  A passed ball allowed the runners to scoot forward one base and an Omphroy single brought home Diaz to increase the advantage to 4-0.
 
Vultaggio smacked a leadoff single in the bottom of the fourth and he got to second on a wild pitch.  He then stole third but, on the attempt, the Oaks made a bad throw, allowing Vultaggio to cross the plate, putting the score at 5-0.  While the team went down quietly in the bottom of the fifth, the lineup made up for it in the home half of the sixth.  Jarrell got pegged in the leg by a pitch and a Vultaggio single put two runners on the base paths.  Evan Avitia then belted a home run over the left-field fence to increase the lead to 8-0.  Christopher Famolaro was also hit by a pitch and Chris Brown singled, with the pair advancing to second and third on a wild pitch.  Hernandez came through again with a single through the left side of the infield, bringing both Lions home to cap the lead at 10-0.
 
Vanguard scored 10 runs on eight hits, had one error, and stranded eight runners on base.  MC had two hits, one error, and seven runners left aboard.  McDonald goes to 3-1 on the season and Vultaggio went 3-for-3, scoring all three times he reached base, in addition to having one RBI.
 
Why is it Important?  The Lions are 27-17 against Menlo all-time after the series. The Lions also climbed to third in the standings behind Arizona Christian.
 
What was Said?  "Tough loss for us in the first game today but we had an excellent response in game two, led by McDonald," said Head Coach Rob Pegg.  "It was a competitive series and I'm glad we were able to end up on top.  The best is yet to come for us."
 
What's Next?  The Lions play a non-conference game against Saint Katherine on Tuesday, March 12, at 2:30 p.m.