Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 ATHERTON, Calif. -- The Vanguard softball team will need to regroup heading into the second part of the road trip, as the Menlo Oaks captured the sweep of the Pacific West Conference series today. The Lions lost 6-5 after leading for most of game one, while an 8-3 defeat in game two put the Lions at 8-16 overall and 2-5 in PacWest play, while the Oaks improved to 7-22, 5-10.
What Happened? Back-to-back doubles gave the Lions plenty of early energy, with
Megan Ireland and then
Kamryn Walker doing the honors to lift VU to a 1-0 lead.
Mari Ipatzi got the start and was dialed in through five frames, as she gave up just three singles. The offense rewarded here with four more runs, with Walker starting things in the third. She took a walk and then stole second, with
Lilyana Roth landing a bunt for a single to put runners at the corners.
Adriana Portillo took a walk to load up the bases, and
Leah Mays drove in a run to put the Lions up 2-0.
In the top of the fifth, the Blue and Gold struck for three more while only using one hit.
ChaCha Miranda took a leadoff walk, and
Bella Bastien placed the only hit of the frame into left field. Ireland juiced the bases by taking a walk, and while the Oaks did not turn two, a pair of force outs at home on consecutive grounders hurt the VU attack. But, the hosts then had an error on a grounder to the first baseman, allowing two Lions to score, with another error propelling VU to a 5-0 lead on the next play.
Ipatzi gave up a leadoff single in the bottom of the fifth, and
Vanessa Robles spelled her in the circle with one out. The Oaks eventually scored one on a wild pitch, but Robles got a groundout to end the threat. But things kept unraveling, as the Oaks used four hits to tally three runs in the sixth, even though Ipatzi returned midway through the interval. Menlo then loaded up the bases in the bottom of the seventh, and an error on a grounder allowed the game to be tied at 5-5. Another grounder led to a repeat attempt to throw out an MC runner coming home, but she slid in safely to capture walk-off win for the second time in the series for the home side, as Menlo won 6-5.
The Oaks had 11 hits, four errors, and seven runners left on base, while VU had six hits, one error, and 12 runners left aboard. Ipatzi had the only VU strikeout and dropped to 0-3. Bastien led the lineup with a 2-for-3 performance in the first game.
Game 2
Portillo reached on an error in the top of the second and she came around to score on a double by
Hailey Ibarra to put the Blue and Gold ahead for the second game in a row.
Mia Iacomini had a quality opening inning of work, but the Oaks struck for two in the bottom of the second, with two walks and a single doing the damage. In the third, a single, a double, and another single with an error put two more on the board for Menlo, as the hosts sailed to a 4-1 lead.
A double and a single pushed the advantage to 5-1 in the bottom of the fourth, and the Oaks left the period ahead 8-1. The Lions got back on the score sheet in the seventh, with an Ibara base knock starting the sequence. Miranda reached on a fielder's choice, while an error allowed Ibara to touch second base safely. While another grounder got Ibara out at third, an Ireland single scored one, and another single by Walker brought home the second run of the inning. But that is as close as it got, as the Oaks prevailed 8-3.
VU had seven hits, one error, and seven runners left on base, while the Oaks had nine hits, two errors, and six runners left aboard. Walker went 2-for-4, and Ibara had a 2-for-2 day, with three different players netting an RBI for Vanguard. Iacomini took the loss after going the distance, falling to 2-2.
What's Next? The Blue and Gold head to Jessup for four games, with the first coming on Friday at 3:00 p.m.
