COSTA MESA -- Vanguard baseball pounced in the bottom of the first against Cedarville (Ohio) today to notch a 4-3 victory to start the three-game series between the two schools. Abe Hernandez and Tyler Shigenaka led the Lions offensively with two RBI each and the pitching held the visiting Yellow Jackets to four hits in all.  The Lions improved to 2-2 and Cedarville dropped to 0-2.  
 
What Happened?  The Yellow Jackets began the contest with a walk, a single, and a ground out that allowed the visitors to lead 1-0 after half an inning.  But the VU bats were quick to respond in the bottom half.  Jarred Mazzaferro reached on an error and Fred Buckson took a walk to start the home portion of the first inning.  A fielder's choice eliminated Mazzaferro but kept runners on first and second for Hernandez.  He smashed a double down the left-field line to score Buckson from second and that brought Shigenaka to the plate.  He followed the catcher's example with a booming double of his own to the left-center fence to score Hernandez and Noah Madole, as the Lions grabbed a 3-1 advantage.
 
The Blue and Gold slapped another run on the board in the bottom of the third as Buckson sliced a leadoff single to open the frame.  He then got to third on a failed pickoff attempt, as the ball rolled around in foul territory behind first on a bad throw by Cedarville.  Hernandez batted with one out and he skied a ball to right field that allowed Buckson to tag and score and VU took its lead to 4-2.
 
Spencer Edmondson went five innings and fanned three batters on 77 pitches, though he faced a battle in his final period of work.  Cedarville loaded the bases and a fielding error cut the gap to 4-2, but Edmondson got a swinging strikeout to leave the bases juice.
 
The Yellow Jackets made the game interesting in the top of the eighth, as the leadoff hitter was hit by a pitch, got to second on a balk, third on a sacrifice fly, and home on a balk.  But Kegan Wentz and Maxwell Montplaisir closed the door on Cedarville, with the pair netting two strikeouts apiece. 

The Lions scored four runs on six hits, had two errors, and left six runners on base, while Cedarville had three runs on four hits, two errors, and seven runners left on board. Edmondson improved his record to 1-0 in his second start of the year and Montplaisir notched his first save at VU.  Christopher Ceballos also threw an inning and got two strikeouts.  Shigenaka went 2-for-4, Hernandez was 2-for-3, and both players cashed in two runs for Vanguard.  Buckson scored twice and had s single and two walks on Friday.     
 
What was Said?  "Solid early season victory," said Head Coach Rob Pegg.  "We minimized mistakes and got clutch at-bats in the first inning.  We'll keep enjoying each opportunity we get." 

What's Next?  The two sides return to the Dean Harvey Field for a 10:00 a.m. doubleheader tomorrow.