COSTA MESA – It was a tough day at the ballpark for Vanguard baseball, which dropped 6-1 and 11-1 games to visiting Azusa Pacific at Dean Harvey Field on Thursday.
The Lions are now 8-8 on the season and 4-6 in the PacWest. The Cougars improved to 7-9 and 5-5 in conference play.
VU's offense managed just 10 hits over the two games as APU starters David Hays and Gavino Rosales combined to shut out the Lions over 10 innings. Hays tossed 5.0 innings of two-hit ball and Rosales scattered five hits over the same distance.
Neither APU pitcher walked a batter, with Hays striking out six and Rosales five.
The Lions committed five errors over the two games, leading to six unearned runs. Spencer Edmondson kept VU close in game one, lasting 7.0 innings and allowing six hits and three runs (one earned). He stretched out the longest he has all season.
Jaxson Davis went 3-for-8 in the doubleheader. Christopher Famolaro also posted a pair of hits in game two.
Game 1 – Azusa Pacific 6, Vanguard 1
Azusa Pacific scored three runs in the third inning and never looked back in a 6-1 victory. The Cougars added a run in the eighth and two more in the ninth as insurance, while Josh Schleichardt's third home run of the season in the ninth prevented the shutout.
APU starter David Hays tossed five innings of two-hit ball, walking no one and striking out six. He limited the Lions to a Tristan Gallegos single in the second and a Fred Buckson base hit to lead off the fourth. The southpaw retired the Blue and Gold in order in the first, third and fifth. He ended his afternoon with a pair of strikeouts.
Vanguard got the first two runners aboard in the fourth as Buckson singled and Schleichardt got hit by the pitch. But Hays wiggled out of the jam, getting a force out, fly out and pop out.
The Lions had ace Spencer Edmondson on the hill, and the right-hander threw a solid seven innings. He allowed three runs but only one of them was earned. Edmondson also walked only one Cougar in his 113-pitch outing.
But the Cougars capitalized on a Lion fielding error to lead off the third. Michael Easter and Antonio Lujan followed with singles, allowing Allan Camarillo to score an unearned run. Jacob Hayes then delivered a run-scoring single to left, plating Easter for a 2-0 lead.
Edmondson's attempted pickoff throw to second sprayed into the outfield, allowing both runners to advance 90 feet. Elijah Cook's foul out to first enabled Lujan to tag up and score from third for the second unearned run of the inning.
Hays departed in favor of Damian Pasillas to start the Lion sixth. Jaxson Davis greeted Pasillas with a base hit to right. After getting Buckson to fly out, Pasillas induced a 5-4-3 double play to finish the inning.
VU got two runners aboard with two outs in the seventh, but Pasillas got a strikeout to escape unscathed.
In the eighth, APU added an insurance run as Elijah Morgan singled, stole second, advanced to third on a ground ball and scored on a wild pitch off VU reliever Jacob Cuculich.
The Cougars tacked on two more in the ninth when Morgan delivered a two-run single.
Schleichardt stepped up in the ninth and unloaded a solo shot off Pasillas for his third home run in the last five games.
Pasillas picked up the save after hurling four innings, allowing two hits and no walks with three strikeouts.
Hays earned the win to improve to 2-1, while Edmondson fell to 2-2.
Game 2 – Azusa Pacific 11, Vanguard 1
Vanguard fell into a 4-0 hole in the first inning, with each run unearned courtesy of two errors.
The Lions put the leadoff runner aboard in each of the first two innings, but both times the Cougars turned in double plays.
VU starter Jesus Barreto pitched four innings, giving up a two-run homer to Jacob Freer in the third and a three-run roundtripper to Hayes in the fourth.
The Lions fell behind 10-0 in the sixth on an RBI single from Danny Yanez. APU added one more run in the ninth on a bases loaded RBI walk by Steven Lukasiewicz.
VU prevented the shutout with a run in its final at-bat off APU reliever Matthew Brock. Chase Easter-Hairston got hit by a pitch with one out, moved up on a wild pitch, and scored on Famolaro's base hit to center field.
Barreto fell to 2-2 after allowing 11 hits and nine runs (five earned). Dakota Henson, Trevor Steele and Pablo Small all made relief appearances. Rosales moved to 2-2 on the season for the Cougars.
What's Next?: Vanguard continues the four-game PacWest set with Azusa Pacific on Saturday in Azusa. The first game of the doubleheader begins at 1:00 p.m.
