ATHERON, Calif. -- The final Pacific West Conference trip to Menlo for Vanguard baseball started with a pair of wins on Friday, as the Lions won 12-5 and 5-4.  While both teams ended with 20 hits on the day, VU had the only two home runs and gave up fewer walks (8-6) than the Oaks.  Vanguard improved to 8-22 overall and 5-19 in PacWest action, while the Oaks dropped to 9-19, 7-18.
 
What Happened?  Vanguard opened the game strong with Tyler Shigenaka singling up the middle, eventually scoring on a single by Colton Perez. Tristan Gallegos also crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Jaxson Davis, putting the Blue and Gold ahead after half an inning.  The Oaks made a successful counter though, as the hosts used a single, a triple, and a sacrifice fly to knot the game at 2-2.
 
The second inning began a three-inning scoring streak for the Lions, with Nathan Hellein taking a leadoff walk in the second and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Gallegos, giving the Lions a 3-2 lead.  The third frame saw Angel Perez get hit by a pitch and advance on a throwing error on a Colton Perez grounder, as he hustled safely to first on a fielder's choice.  That set the stage for Hellein's two-RBI single that extended the Lions' advantage to 5-2, giving Jake Hiner some breathing room.  The VU starter only allowed the two runs in the first and set a season-high of seven strikeouts during his seven innings of duty as he corralled the Oaks.
 
Meanwhile, the VU offense added three more runs in the fourth inning, as Bennett Vondrak accepted a leadoff walk.  Gallegos took one another BB with one out, and Joshua Sur hit a two-RBI double to left-center field to increase the advantage to 7-2.  He was soon driven home by Angel Perez's double, pushing the edge to 8-2.
 
Dakota Henson replaced Hiner in the bottom of the eighth, but Menlo closed the gap with three runs to make it an 8-5 contest.  However, Vanguard responded decisively in the ninth to put the Oaks out of reach. Menlo hit two batters and issued a walk, which loaded up the bases for Shigenaka.  On a 1-0 count, he bombed a grand slam over the fence in the left-field corner, securing the lead at 12-5 on his fifth homer run of the season.
 
The Lions used nine hits to score 12 runs and left nine runners on base.  The Oaks had eight hits, two errors, and seven runners left aboard.  Hiner improved to 2-6, and Henson had one strikeout during the final two frames.  Both Shigenaka and Gallegos went 2-for-3, with Sur second on the squad with a pair of RBI.
 
 
Game 2
The Oaks had a 12-11 edge in hits in the twin bill, but the Blue and Gold held on for a one-run victory.  A double and a single opened the scoring for the home side, but the Lions responded in the third inning.  James Derflinger doubled to right center to open the stanza, and he advanced to third on a passed ball and scored on a groundout by Gallegos. Sur then unloaded on the first pitch that he saw, mashing his homer over the fence in left to give VU a 2-1 lead.  Angel Perez was hit by a pitch, and Colton Perez followed with a single.  A textbook base knock by Davis to right field brought in Angel Perez, as the Lions led 3-1 after the third inning.
 
In the fourth, Shigenaka reached on a fielder's choice and then strolled to second on a balk.  That put him in scoring position, and a single by Gallegos was enough for Shigenaka to speed home and make it a 4-1 advantage.  The Oaks replied in the bottom of the inning off of Seth Wrightstone with an unearned run, cutting the lead to 4-2.  But Wrightstone had the better of the MC lineup after that, as he snuffed out the Menlo bats through his final two innings of action.
 
Gallegos tripled in the sixth inning with one out, and a sacrifice fly by Angel Perez extended the Lions' advantage to 5-2, which proved to be the game-winning run.
 
That is due to a Menlo rally in the seventh inning against Dylan Henson, as a two-RBI single narrowed the Lions' lead to 5-4. But after that, Henson got a flyout and a strikeout to end the comeback bid, as the Blue and Gold pocketed its first two-win day of the season.
 
VU had the only two errors of the second contest and left nine on base compared to MC's five.  Wrightstone had six fine innings, throwing 60 pitches and fanning two to improve to 2-5.  Dylan Henson got his first save and also struck out two batters.  Gallegos a 3-for-4 performance to conclude Saturday's DH while leading the lineup with two RBI.  Sur had a 2-for-3 outing and his team-leading sixth HR in the game.  Six other Lions had hits in the decision.
 
What's Next?  The teams return tomorrow for another doubleheader.