SANTA BARBARA, Calif. -- The Vanguard baseball team opened its Pacific West Conference series against Westmont on the road, but the Warriors swiped both games Friday.  VU attempted to curl back into a position to win game one, but lost 3-1, while a 3-1 lead in the twin bill drifted away for a 6-3 Westmont win.  The Lions dropped to 4-8 overall and 1-5 in the PacWest, while Westmont improved to 7-2, 4-2.
WC 3  VU 1
The first game on Friday went to the hosts, though VU had a solid day on the field, holding the Warriors to three runs.  Jake Hiner had five strikeouts and went seven and two-thirds, tossing 130 pitches to keep the Blue and Gold in the game.  Westmont got the opening run in the bottom of the first inning, with an error followed by a sacrifice fly to make it 1-0. 
A double and a single made it 2-0 in the bottom of the third, which proved to be the deciding run, with a home run in the bottom of the eighth putting the Warriors ahead 3-0.  The Lions had a good chance to help Hiner out in the top of the second, with an Angel Perez single with one out getting the offense going.  Jaxson Davis was hit by a pitch, and a fielder's choice allowed Perez to get to third, but a groundout ended the frame. 

Another attempt to score in the top of the fifth came up short, with Davis leading off with a single.  Nathan Hellein took a walk, and Joshua Sur was hit by a pitch, but WC got a pair of groundouts to escape the threat.  With time running out, Perez thundered an opposite-field home run in the top of the ninth to get the Lions on the board.  Davis had a single after that, and Evan Avitia took a walk, but Westmont got the final two outs to end the game.
 
WC had three runs on five hits and left five runners on base.  VU had one run, five hits, one error, and eight runners left aboard.  Hiner dropped to 1-3, and Mitch Hunter got the final out for VU in the eighth.  Perez went 3-for-4, with Davis at 2-for-3 behind him.
 
WC 6 VU 3
Vanguard rolled out to a 2-0 edge with runs in the top of the first and second frames, making it three unanswered runs across both games.  Tyler Shigenaka started the game with a walk, and singles by James Derflinger and Tristan Gallegos loaded up the bases.  A groundout by Colton Perez cashed in the first run of the afternoon, and Bennett Vondrak got a one-out single in the second to start the scoring process.  Daniel Rivera bunted him to second, making it two outs in the inning, and he got to third on a wild pitch.  After a walk put Shigenaka on first, the Lions brought Vondrak home on a double steal, though Shigenaka got thrown out at second to retire the side.

Caden Byers gave the Blue and Gold another quality start on the day, with a strikeout and only one run allowed after five innings of pitching, with WC scoring in the third off a double and a sacrifice fly.  Byers left with the lead, and the team got an additional run in the top of the sixth. 

Davis led off with a bunt single, and Hellein followed suite by beating out the throw on his own bunt for an infield single.  A single to center by Rivera with one out juiced the bases, and a sacrifice fly by Shigenaka made it 3-1, though VU could not muster anything else.  Tyler Prystajko replaced Byers and attempted to stave off the Warriors, but neither he nor Braden Turner could escape the frame until WC had thrown up five runs to vault into a 6-3 lead.  A Colton Perez double and an Angel Perez single put two runners on in the top of the seventh, but VU could not advance them further.

WC had only four hits but brought six runs home while leaving seven runners on base.  Vanguard had 11 hits, one error, and 10 runners left on base.  Gallegos had a 3-for-4 day, while Hellein went 2-for-4.  Prystajko dropped to 0-1.

What's Next?  Vanguard returns to Costa Mesa today and welcomes WC for another brace tomorrow, starting at 11:00 a.m.