LA MIRADA, Calif. --  Saturday's doubleheader for Vanguard softball did not end as planned, as the Lions dropped two Pacific West Conference games to Biola.  The Lions were close to swiping a win in the first game, only for the Eagles to take the contest in the bottom of the seventh.  The hosts then pulled away for a 10-2 win in the second game to improve to 26-15 overall and 19-4 in league play, with VU dropping to 19-26, 12-14.
 
What Happened?  Mari Ipatzi and Kayla Bousquette were evenly matched as starters, with both punching out two hitters and giving up five hits and two earned runs.  But the difference was the lone unearned run that Biola scratched across in the bottom of the seventh to take game one 3-2.
 
VU had a chance to strike in the first, with runners getting to second and third, but Bousquette's catcher picked off one runner, and the pitcher followed that with a K to end to the danger.  Ipazti was in a groove until the third, when BU hit a leadoff home run to claim the opening run of the day.  The offenses were sheathed again until the fifth, and though the Lions got a pair of runners aboard, no one could score.  However, Biola picked up a second run in the bottom half, using two singles and a sacrifice fly to hold a 2-0 edge.
 
The breakthrough for the Blue and Gold came in the sixth, as Preslee Brower singled with one out to get some inertia going for the team.  Leah Mays was hit by a pitch to put two on, and Adriana Portillo placed a single inside the right-field line to send Brower to the plate to slice the gap in half to 2-1.  With Mays now at third, Portillo pickpocketed second, and a flyout by Hailey Ibarra got Mays in to level the game at 2-2.
 
Ipatzi set the Eagles down in order in the sixth, and VU could not muster a hit in the top of the seventh.  Unfortunately, a dropped flyout by VU allowed the leadoff BU hitter to reach, and after a walk and a sacrifice bunt, a double cashed in the winning run.
 
Each team had one error, and Ipatzi dropped to 7-6, while Bousquette improved to 13-3.  Five different Lions had hits in the game.
 
Game 2
After a pair of singles in the bottom of the first, the Eagles launched a home run to tumble into an early 3-0 advantage.  BU then added another run in the second, as a two-out single cashed in a runner from third to push the lead to 4-0.  The Lions then scored their only two runs of the game in the top of the third to halve the deficit, bringing some hope to the dugout. 

Bella Bastien doubled to lead off the frame, and Megan Ireland placed a tidy bunt for an infield single to put the pair at first and third.  Lilyana Roth picked up an RBI on a fielder's choice, as the Eagles chose to get Ireland out at second, while Bastien touched home plate.  A sacrifice bunt by Kamryn Walker got Roth into scoring position, and Portillo brought her around with a single to left field.
 
However, the Blue and Gold had only hit after that, while the Eagles tagged six more on the board, with a home run in the bottom of the sixth ending the game an inning early.
 
BU scored 10 runs on 15 hits, had one error, and left five players on the base paths, while VU had five hits, two runs, and four runners left aboard.  Brower had a 2-for-3 performance to lead the lineup in the game.  Mia Iacomini was given the start and had one strikeout in 2.2 innings, with Vanessa Robles working the final 2.1 of the game.
 
What's Next?  The Blue and Gold head to CUI on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader.