Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 COSTA MESA -- Vanguard softball eliminated its losing streak on Wednesday in a doubleheader against the Hope International Royals, though the afternoon ended in a split. The Lions were good on both sides of the field to earn a 4-0 victory in game one but the Royals got a winning run in the top of the eighth in game two to force a 1-1 day for each team. HIU goes to 20-6 and VU goes to 8-23.
What Happened? Brianna Williams set down the Royals in order to open game one and the offense got her two runs in the bottom of the second.
Kamryn Walker led off with an infield single, as the ball spun away from the HIU pitcher.
Lilyana Roth then put down a beautiful bunt that turned into an infield single to put two aboard with no outs. Back-to-back grounders by
Mia Hernandez and
Amarah Farley got Walker home for a 1-0 lead and
Adriana Portillo singled to cash in Roth to give VU a 2-0 edge after one frame.
The Royals got a hit in the top of the third but back-to-back strikeouts for Williams and a flyout sent things on to the fourth. The gloves continued to shine as Roth made a diving catch in foul territory down the right field line for a spectacular second out in the top of the fifth and the Blue and Gold tagged on another run in the bottom half.
Megan Ireland led off with a walk and Hernandez came to the plate with two outs. She skied a ball into right-center field and it landed right between three HIU defenders, with Hernandez turning the bloop shot into a double and Ireland scoring to put the home side up 3-0.
The lead increased in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a leadoff walk by Portillo.
Tiffany Pope then smashed a double to the right-center fence to make it 4-0 and that was all Williams needed. The VU ace gave up two hits in game one and registered nine Ks to improve to 4-10. The Lions scored four runs on six hits and though the defense had one error, the squad did not surrender a run in the shutout. Pope paced the lineup in the opening game, going 2-for-2 and driving in one run, while five other Lions got hits in the matchup.
HIU 3 VU 2 The Lions pounced in the bottom of the first again, with Walker leading off with a bouncing single to center field. She then stole second and Farley took a walk to put runners at the corners for Portillo. The VU third baseman slapped a single back up the middle to bring home Walker and give the Blue and Gold an early 1-0 advantage.
LeeAnne Miranda gave up singles in both the first and second innings but the starter the defense kept HIU off the board, with the squad turning a flyout to center into a double play to end the top of the second.
But the Royals got some offense going in the top of the third with a one-out single. A stolen base and a wild pitch put the HIU runner on third and another walk put runners on the corners. Hope then put both runners into motion but a bad throw home allowed a run to score and tie the meeting at 1-1.
Mari Ipatzi then replaced Miranda in the circle and got a flyout and a strikeout to retire the side.
Portillo worked a two-out walk in the bottom of the third, which brought Pope to the dish. For the second time on Wednesday, Pope tattooed a double, this time to the left-center fence, sending Portillo home to give VU a 2-1 edge. However, the Royals got two singles and a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the fifth.
A defensive clinic by Walker at shortstop in the top of the sixth and good pitching from
Vanessa Robles stranded an HIU runner on third. Just an inning later, the Royals got two singles, but
ChaCha Miranda gunned down both runners trying to steal second to give the Lions a chance to win it in the bottom of the seventh. However, VU could not score, sending the ball game to the eighth with the international tiebreaker in effect.
The Royals used a groundout and a sacrifice fly to go ahead 3-2 in the top of the eighth and in the bottom half, Pope was placed on second.
ChaCha Miranda bunted her to third but Hope got another out to leave VU a single thread in the frame.
Megan Ireland took a walk to put runners on the corners and Walker to one as well to load up the bases. Roth dug in but on a full count, she hit a grounder that gave Hope a 3-2 win.
HIU scored three runs on seven hits and left six runners on base. VU scored two runs on eight hits, committed one error, and stranded 13 runners on the base paths. Robles dropped to 0-3 and had one K in three innings of action. Ipatzi and
LeeAnne Miranda each had two strikeouts in just over two innings of work. Walker went 3-for-4 to top the VU lineup, with Farley next at 2-for-3.
What's Next? Back to Pacific West Conference action for the Lions, who host the Academy of Art for four games starting Saturday at noon.
