SURPRISE, Ariz. -- Vanguard softball remained perfect in Arizona on Saturday with a pair of Golden State Athletic Conference wins.  The Lions led from start to finish in game one, with a Mackenzie Hofmann home run sealing a 4-2 win.  The cardiac kids had to fight back in game two, as the Blue and Gold overcame a 7-1 Spirit lead to win 10-7.   Vanguard improves to 17-5 overall and 4-0 in GSAC play, while the Spirit fall to 14-12 overall and 1-3 in league play.
 
 
What Happened?  Brianna Williams held the OUAZ offense hitless for the first three innings and the VU bats gave her two runs in support over those frames.  Adriana Portillo reached on a fielder's choice in the top of the second, bringing Mia Hernandez to the plate with two outs.  She smacked a single to center, but the OUAZ center fielder did not handle the bounce, allowing Portillo to turn and score from first to put VU up 1-0.  The lead went to 2-0 in the top of the third, as Amarah Farley got to first on a dropped fly ball by the center fielder.  Up next was Kamryn Walker, who mashed a ball to right field that bounced around the bottom of the fence, scoring Farley, with Walker safely making it to third for a triple. 
 
The Spirit put one on the board in the bottom of the fourth, as a one-out double was converted into a run two batters later via a wild pitch.  But Williams soon retired the side and kept OUAZ from scoring for the next two frames.
 
The Lions put the game mostly out of reach in the top of the seventh, as Noni Chaves led off with an infield single.  She got to second on a sacrifice bunt and Hofmann made a pinch-hit appearance for Carli Row.  She waited for her pitch and sent the ball over the fence in right to extend the advantage to 4-1.
 
OUAZ answered with a home run with one out in the bottom of the seventh to scale the lead down to 4-2, but a line out and a strikeout soon retired the side to claim a 4-2 victory for Vanguard.
 
The Lions scored four runs on five hits and left six runners on base.  OUAZ tallied two runs on four hits, had three errors, and left two on the base paths.
 
Williams improves to 8-2 overall and accumulated eight strikeouts in the contest.  Riley Shopp falls to 7-5 and fanned five in the game for the Spirit.  Hofmann's two RBI was a game-high and five different Lions had one hit apiece.
 
Game 2
Alyvia Hernandez gave up a double to Walker in the top of the first in the twin bill, but VU could not bring her home.  The setback was compounded by the Spirit pouring on the runs over the first two innings against Mari Ipatzi.  OUAZ used four hits, all singles, and one VU error in the first to power ahead 3-0.
 
The Lions did land a quick counterpunch, as Portillo belted a leadoff home run to make it 3-1 in the top of the second, as the team celebrated her first collegiate HR at the plate.  But the Spirit again used small wounds to land a big blow, as OUAZ loaded the bases with three singles to knock Ipatzi out of the contest.  Vanessa Robles entered from the pen and unfortunately, the first batter she saw clobbered a grand slam to push the Spirit lead to 7-1.
 
Rocked for only a moment, Robles brushed it off and settled into the game, as she and the defense would shut out the Spirit the rest of the way.  Meanwhile, the Lions went to work in the batter's box and started to reel in the hosts.
 
Mia Hernandez started the fourth by getting hit by a pitch, and the deep ball factored again as Bianca Morales launched her first home run of the season over the fence in left.  One batter later, it was Emma Noble's turn for a home run, as her shot cleared the left-field fence for her second HR of the year.  Aeri Corral followed that with a single and got to second on a wild pitch.  Farley cashed her in with a double to left as the Blue and Gold cut the gap to 7-5. 
 
With the positive energy building, VU busted down the gates in the top of the sixth to steal the win from the Spirit.  Noble reached on an error and Corral slashed a single to put two runners on.  Chaves lanced a single to center to bring Noble in, with Corral sliding into third safely.  Down 7-6, Farley came to the plate next and chopped a ball to the OUAZ shortstop, who made a bad throw to first.  Both Chaves and Corral scored, giving Vanguard its first lead of the day at 8-7.  Farley then got to third and Hofmann brought her home on a single, with a Hernandez double pushing Hofmann around the horn to score to increase the lead to 10-7.
 
The Spirit got two singles in the bottom of the sixth, but the defense handled the pressure to strand two runners on base.  Robles hit the first batter she saw in the bottom of the seventh but then got a double play, as Farley caught a quick liner to left and made an accurate throw to first to clear the bases of any OUAZ runners.  The home side then got another single, but the defense closed out the game on another assist.  The next batter hit a single to center and Chaves charged the ball as the lead OUAZ runner turned for third.  But the turn was too big, and Chaves threw the ball to Noble, who applied the tag at second as the runner tried to return to the base to end the ball game.
 
VU scored 10 runs on 11 hits, had one error, and left five runners aboard.  OUAZ had seven runs on 14 hits, three errors, and left five runners aboard.  Robles improves to 5-1 on the year and got two strikeouts in 5.2 innings of work.  Hernandez drops to 5-4 and had five Ks for the Spirit. 
 
Morales and Corral had two-hit days, with Morales going 2-for-4 and Corral going 2-for-3.  Morales and Farley each had two RBI, with Noble and Corral each scoring twice. 
 
Why is it Important?  The Blue and Gold are now 15-4 all-time against the Spirit and have won three of the past four contests.  It is also some redemption for the Lions, who split last time they were in Surprise.  Jessup beat Menlo, but VU has provisional pole in the standings, though Jessup holds three games in hand.  Hope swept ACU to land third in the standings.

 
What's Next?  The Lions play a non-conference doubleheader against Avila (Mo.) on Tuesday, March 12, at noon.