Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 IRVINE, Calif. --Two lopsided affairs capped the first Pacific West Conference series for VU baseball, with Vanguard capturing the set 3-1.  Monday's contests, pushed back due to rain, saw the Lions batter Concordia Irvine in game one for an 8-2 victory before an equally thorough rebuttal by the hosts gave the Golden Eagles a 7-0 decision.  The Lions are now 7-3 overall and 3-1 in league play, while CUI is 3-5, 1-3.  VU starts the conference campaign tied for third with Point Loma, with Jessup and Westmont topping the charts by going 4-0 to open the PacWest season.
 
VU 8 CUI 2 Both Jake Hiner & Jamison King were solid through one inning but the Golden Eagles struck first in the bottom of the second, as a single and a double put the home side up 1-0.  But the top of the fourth brought a lead change.
 
Fred Buckson singled to lead off and Josh Schleichardt doubled to put two on with no outs and a single by Noah Madole brought both Lions home to vault VU to a 2-1 lead.  Abe Hernandez was then hit by a pitch and Tyler Shigenaka took a walk to load up the bases, with a sacrifice fly by Tristan Gallegos brinning in Madole to extend the edge to 3-1.  Levi Hall took a walk to load up the bases again, but CUI got out of the jam to keep the game close.
 
But the scoring power for VU returned in the top of the sixth to give Hiner more breathing room.  Shigenaka singled and Gallegos took a walk to put two on with no outs.  Jaxson Davis came to the plate with the intention of bunting both runners forward, however, a fielding error by the pitcher allowed him to reach first  safely and load up the bases, which brought Jarred Mazzaferro to the dish.  He powered a double down the left-field line to clear the bases and propel Vanguard to a 6-1 lead.  Schleichardt reached on a dropped third strike and the Golden Eagles could not recover in time before Mazzaferro scored from second to give Vanguard a 7-1 advantage. 
 
The Blue and Gold got an extra run in the top of the eighth which started with Buckson launching a double down the left-field line.  He then stole third and scored on a past ball, giving VU an 8-1 cushion.
 
Hiner fanned two and surrendered four hits in seven innings of work to net his first win of the season (1-0).  Dakota Henson replaced him in the bottom of the eighth and got two Ks, and though Kegan Wentz gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth, the Lions were well enough ahead to win 8-2.
 
The Lions scored eight runs on 10 hits, had one error, and left eight runners on base.  CUI had two runs, seven hits, two errors, and five runners left on the base paths.  Madole went 3-for-4 to pace the lineup and he finished second with two RBI, as Mazzaferro led the squad with three. 
 
VU 0 CUI 7  Both Evan Langer (CUI) and Chris Paruleski held the offenses to zeros through three innings but the Golden Eagles launched their attack in the bottom of the fourth.  A single, two errors, and a groundout put CUI up 1-0 and though Paruleski then got out of the problematic situation, the home side put things away in the bottom of the fifth.  Four hits, two VU errors, and five CUI runs later, the Golden Eagles held a commanding 6-0 advantage.
 
Concordia Irvine struck once more in the bottom of the sixth after the home side loaded the bases and cashed in a run on an infield single.  The Lions attempted to counter attack in the top of the seventh, as two hit batters and a walk loaded up the bases.  Unfortunately, the Lions could not make contact, losing the final game of the series 7-0.
 
VU had two hits, one from Mazzaferro and one from Evan Avitia, two errors, and seven runners left on base.  CUI had seven runs on eight hits and left eight runners aboard.  Paruleski took the loss (1-1) and struck out two hitters.
 
What was Said?  "A very good start to the conference against a strong program.  The guys competed well," relayed Head Coach Rob Pegg. 

Why is it Important? In addition to starting well in the standings, the three wins in a row against CUI are the most since the early 2000s and beyond, as the Lions won eight games over CUI in a row from April 24, 2001 to February 15, 2003.  VU is now 52-59 against CUI all-time and Coach Pegg is one win away from 400 in his Vanguard career.

What's Next?  VU hosts Point Loma on Friday for an 11:00 a.m. doubleheader before traveling to PLNU on Saturday.