COSTA MESA -- Vanguard and Jessup renewed their softball conference history and started the Pacific West Conference chapter of that book in a doubleheader on Friday afternoon. However, the first PacWest series between the two schools will be decided on Saturday, as the Lions took game one 7-3 and JU snagged the twin bill 3-0. Vanguard will enter tomorrow's contest at 7-11 overall and 3-3 in PacWest action, while JU will enter 8-11, 2-4.
What Happened? The opening game saw both sides generate a chance to score in the first inning.
Brianna Williams had the leadoff JU hitter knock her first pitch of the game for a single and the Warriors got her to third, but Williams rescued herself with her first strikeout.
Kamryn Walker led off for VU in the bottom half and poked a single back up the middle. She then stole second and got to third on a groundout, but the Lions could not bring her home from there. Despite that, VU sailed into an early lead in the bottom of the second.
Amarah Farley zipped a single to get things going and
Aeri Corral bunted her to second.
Adrianna Natividad brought Farley off a lined single to center, putting the Lions up 1-0. The advantage grew in the bottom of the fourth, with
Lilyana Roth starting the rally with a single. Farley followed with a single and another well-executed bunt from Corral put the duo at second and third. A grounder by
Megan Ireland was mishandled by the JU third baseman, allowing Roth to score. Another Warrior error, this time a bad throw trying to get Natividad out, allowed Farley to score and put runners on first and third. A sacrifice fly by
Andrea Connor brought in Ireland and after Walker took a walk, a booming double from
Mia Hernandez cleared the bases to put the home side ahead 6-0.
Farley got the Lions a leadoff single to start the bottom of the fifth and Corral collected an infield single to put two on. A bouncing single from Ireland and a sacrifice fly by Natividad made it 7-0, but the Blue and Gold could not put up the eighth run needed to end the game early.
That did not come back to haunt the Lions though, as Williams was rolling in the circle and had four perfect innings after the first. Jessup finally snapped out of its funk and used four hits to strike for three runs in the top of the sixth, but that was all they could get, as Williams closed the deal on her win with two Ks in the top of the seventh.
Vanguard had seven runs on nine hits and five runners left on base. JU had three runs, five hits, two errors, and three runners left on base. Williams improved to 3-5 on the season and fanned seven Warriors. Farley went 3-for-3 to lead VU, while both Natividad and Hernandez paced the lineup with two RBI each.
Game 2 The main highlight through three innings was watching sisters
LeeAnne Miranda and
ChaCha Miranda working together as battery mates. LeeAnne held JU to one hit and one walk over three innings and fanned three, while ChaCha threw out a runner trying to steal second in the top of the second. The entire team saved Miranda in the top of the fourth, as Jessup loaded the bases with no outs. But a groundout resulted in a 5-2-3 double play and a groundout to shortstop after that negated the Jessup attack.
But the Warriors scored the only runs of the game in the top of the fifth, as three runs came home off three hits. A leadoff double was followed by a single and the leadoff runner scored on a passed ball soon thereafter. The longest hit of the day then came from Maddy Ybarra, who launched a home run over the deep left-center fence to put Jessup up 3-0.
The Lions had hits from four different players, with Natividad and
Adriana Portillo going 2-for-3 and Roth and Corral grabbing the other two hits, but they were all singles and the squad put only one runner in scoring position in the matchup.
LeeAnne Miranda dropped to 1-3 and had three strikeouts, while
Mari Ipatzi had four Ks over the final 2.2 of the game.
What's Next? VU and JU play a single game tomorrow at noon on the VU Softball Field.
