ATHERTON, Calif. -- After taking the first two games at Menlo, VU baseball suffered a pair of defeats on Saturday to end the Pacific West Conference set at 2-2. The Lions and the Oaks hacked away at each other in the first game, with the Oaks emerging with a 9-8 decision before taking a 1-0 win in the final game of the series. VU dropped to 8-24 overall, 5-21 in PacWest play, while Menlo improved to 11-19, 9-18.
What Happened? Jesus Barreto did not have a clean opening frame, as the VU starter gave up a leadoff walk and then saw an Oak blast a home run to left field to put the hosts ahead 2-0. He got a pair of outs in the second, but after two Oaks got aboard,
Daniel Rivera replaced him and got VU cleanly to the fourth, where the offense started to click.
An error allowed
Tyler Shigenaka to reach safely on a grounder, and
Tristan Gallegos successfully bunted him to second.
Joshua Sur took a walk, and both VU runners stole a base to land on second and third for
Jaxson Davis. On a 1-2 count, Davis slashed a single up the middle, scoring two to knot the contest at 2-2. Two innings later, the Lions claimed their first lead of the game, as a sacrifice fly by
James Derflinger brought Davis home.
Ahead 3-2, the Blue and Gold struggled in the bottom of the sixth, as the Oaks scored six runs on three hits and two VU miscues to race away to an 8-3 advantage. The situation seemed dire, but the Lions had a good response in the top of the sevnth. Gallegos took a two-out walk and then got to second on a failed pickoff attempt by MC. A Sur single cashed in Gallegos, and with Sur on first,
Colton Perez made a pinch-hit at-bat and launched a home run to cut the gap to 8-6.
With the pitching and defense holding firm, the Lions hunted down two runs in the top of the ninth. Gallegos once more sparked the rally with a two-out infield single, and Sur followed with a walk. Perez was hit by a pitch to load up the bases, and Davis came through with a clutch single down the left-field line to tie things at 8-8.
Christopher Ceballos continued his good form with a pair of Ks to open the bottom of the ninth, but on the cusp of forcing more frames, the Oaks put together back-to-back singles to walk away with a 9-8 win.
Each team had three errors and seven hits, but VU left six runners on base compared to two for Menlo. Ceballos dropped to 1-2, while Rivera topped him by one strikeout to pace the arms with three. Davis had a solid 2-for-4 game from the plate and tallied four RBI for VU, with Perez next with his two-run homer.
Game 2
Nolan Rodriguez had a brilliant outing in game two, as he gave up only two hits, singles to Gallegos and Sur, and survived three walks to give the Oaks a shutout. He also fanned seven VU hitters.
Shamir Marshall went three innings and had five Ks, but gave up the only run of the game off a solo home run in the bottom of the third. Marshall dropped to 0-1, while Rodriguez improved to 4-3.
What's Next? The Lions complete the series with Azusa Pacific next Tuesday with a noon doubleheader.
