HONOLULU, Hawaii -- Vanguard softball took both games on Friday to open the Pacific West Conference series between the Lions and the Silverswords of Chaminade University of Honolulu.  The Lions won 3-1 in game one, though they outplayed CUH the entire game.  VU then slugged it out with the Silverswords, with the Lions winning 10-7 to improve to 16-27 overall and 10-16 in PacWest play, while Chaminade dropped to 8-39, 7-25.
 
What Happened?  The scoring began in the top of the second in the first contest, with Amarah Farley notching an infield single to lead things off.  Adrianna Natividad then belted a double into the left-field corner to score Farley and put the Lions ahead 1-0.  However, CUH took advantage of a Vanguard error to tie things in the bottom of the third, with a triple putting the teams on level terms.  But that was the only run that Brianna Williams surrendered in the ball game, as the VU starter pocketed five strikeouts in her complete-game effort.
 
The Blue and Gold got Williams back in front in the top of the fourth, with Natividad taking a leadoff walk.  She got to second off a sacrifice bunt by Aeri Corral and scrambled to third on a groundout by Megan Ireland.  Kamryn Walker then slipped a single through the right side of the infield to put VU ahead 2-1.  Williams got an extra dose of insurance in the top of the sixth as Ireland got a one-out single, but an error by the CUH left fielder gave her two extra bases.  With Ireland on third, Walker batted a textbook single to center field to put the Lions ahead 3-1.
 
Vanguard scored three runs on 10 hits, had one error, and left 10 runners on base.  Chaminade had one run, five hits, two errors, and four runners left aboard.  Williams improved to 7-12 and Bailey Benson dropped to 2-12.  Walker went 2-for-3 and paced VU with two RBI.  Lilyana Roth and Farley went 2-for-4.
 
VU 10 CUH 7
While Adriana Portillo tallied the first VU hit in the twin bill, Chaminade got two runs off LeeAnne Miranda in the bottom half to lead for the first time on Friday.  The home side used three singles to surge ahead and then racked up a walk and a triple in the bottom of the second to extend the edge to 3-0.
 
Yet Vanguard's response began in the top of the third with an Ireland triple, which was cashed in thanks to a sacrifice fly by Walker.  Down 3-1, the gap became 3-2 after Roth got a single, Portillo reached on an error, and Mia Hernandez slammed a double to the right-center gap to score Roth. 
 
But the Silverswords rebounded with a solo home run in the bottom of the third against new VU pitcher Mia Iacomini, negating one of the Vanguard tallies.  With the help of a Farley-Walker-Portillo relay to get a batter trying to stretch a double into a triple, Iacomini soon had the offense back on the field and the lead for CUH quickly vanished.
 
Corral sparked a two-out rally in the top of the fourth with a single up the middle, and Ireland was hit by a pitch to put two runners on base.  Walker belted a triple to the right-center fence to clear the bases and reset the scoreboard at 4-4.  Roth followed with a single to left to somersault the Lions into a 5-4 lead. 
 
The offense really hit its stride in the top of the fifth, with all nine players coming to the plate.  Hernandez led off with a double and Farley got a single to put runners at the corners.  After Farley stole second, Natividad poked a single through the left side to score two runs and put the VU edge at 7-4.  A double for Gaby Ramirez made it an 8-4 lead and a Corral single quickly flipped it to 9-4.  A Roth triple two batters later punctuated the outburst, as the Lions scored five runs off six hits to take a 10-4 advantage.
 
CUH picked up three more runs off Iacomini the rest of the game though, with a two-run home run chopping the score to 10-6 in the bottom of the fifth.  A single and a double made the gap 10-7 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, but Iacomini and the defense got the final out to preserve a solid win in game two.
 
Both teams had 17 hits, one error, and 10 runners left on base.  Miranda had one strikeout and did not factor in the decision, while Iacomini improved to 3-2 and had two Ks.  Vanessa Pena dropped to 2-9.  Roth went 3-for-4 to pace the squad, and Walker had a team-high three RBI.  Hernandez went 3-5 and Natividad 3-of-4, and all Vanguard players had at least one hit in the barrage.