COSTA MESA -- The Vanguard baseball team used the long ball to pocket another victory on Wednesday afternoon against the Simpson Red Hawks.  VU smashed a trio of home runs, two of them launched by Oscar Diaz, and 10 hits in the contest to claim a 10-3 win at home.  Vanguard improves to 24-12 and SU falls to 16-19. 
 
What Happened?  The home run barrage was started by Simpson, who got a deep ball to left off of Jesus Barreto to take a 1-0 lead.  But the Lions countered rapidly in the bottom half, as Aaron Zubiate drew a walk and Nino Vultaggio followed with a single to right field.  Diaz was the next hitter, and he demolished a favorable pitch over the fence in right to vault VU to a 3-1 lead.
 
The Red Hawks fought back with a walk and a double in the top of the second to trim the gap to 3-2, but Vanguard zoomed away with four runs in the bottom of the fourth.
 
Abe Hernandez took a walk with one out and after the second out was recorded, Zubiate drew a base on balls to put runners on first and second.  Vultaggio sized up a pitch down the heart of the plate and blasted it over the left-field fence to put the advantage at 6-2.  Diaz was up next and he unloaded on another hanging pitch to send it over the wall in right to make it 7-2.
 
Simpson picked up three singles in the top of the fifth to make the score 7-3, but the Lions were never in danger and the offensse had three more runs left in them.  Hernandez opened the frame with a double to the right-field corner and Noah Madole turned a pinch-hit at-bat into a double down the left-field line to push the lead to 8-3.  With two outs, Diaz hit a hard shot on the right side of the infield and it ricocheted off the SU second baseman, allowing Madole to score and Diaz to reach second.
 
The bottom of the eighth provided the final offensive fireworks.  Antonio Omphroy, Chris Brown, and Hernandez all took walks to load up the bases and a sacrifice fly by Steven Casas put Vanguard ahead 10-3. 
 
On the mound, VU used seven arms to limit the workload on the staff.  Kegan Wentz, Mitch Hunter, Pablo Small, Daniel Vega, and Jackson Webber combined to give up only two hits over the final four innings to help secure the 10-3 victory.
 
The Lions scored 10 runs on 10 hits and left 12 runners on base.  Simpson had three runs, seven hits, two errors, and nine runners left on base.  Barreto goes to 1-0 on the season and fanned five hitters.  Both Small and Webber each had two Ks.  From the plate, Stevens went 3-for-4 to lead VU, with both Vultaggio and Diaz going 2-for-5.  Diaz led the Lions with four RBI and Vultaggio had three.  Zubiate had three walks on the day. 
 
Why is it Important?  The Lions have now won all three games in the history of the series, with results of 5-0, 12-2, and 10-3.  It was the 14th time the Blue and Gold have had 10 or more runs in a game this season. 
 
What was Said?  "A very good team win today.  Saw a lot of good things on the mound.  The guys played solid defense and created some big inning," said Head Coach Rob Pegg.
 
What's Next?  A big Golden State Athletic Conference series against Jessup on the road on Friday and Saturday.  The doubleheaders in Rocklin start at 11:00 a.m. each day.  The Warriors are in second place in the conference, four games up on VU.