Strong pitching led Westmont to a Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep of Vanguard (12-12, 8-6) on Wednesday afternoon at Russ Carr Field. The Warriors (11-14, 4-10 GSAC) took the opener 4-3 before winning the second game 5-1.
First-game starter Dan Cabuling improved his record to 3-3 with an eight-inning performance. The left-hander pitched eight innings giving up two runs on eight hits. Cabuling struck out four and walked two.
"When you have a so-called ace, you like him to go out and give you a chance to win," said Westmont pitching coach Tony Cougoule, "Dan has done that all year. He typically has command of the breaking ball but didn't have command of it today. So he had to grit and grind with his fast ball and made pitches when he had to. It wasn't his best performance, but he put up six goose eggs in a row."
Jacob Regalado pitched the ninth to earn a save, his third of the season. He gave up one run on two hits.
Vanguard's Antonio Peraza (3-2) was charged with the complete game loss. He gave up four runs, one earned, on six hits. Peraza struck out five and walked two.
Vanguard took a 2-0 lead in the first game by scoring in each of the first two innings. A lead-off single in the first inning by Jeremiah Mejia would turn into a run when Eric Sanchez reached on a bases-loaded fielder's choice.
In the second inning, Bryce Arroyo led off with a double down the right-field line and advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Brandon Pesante. Arroyo came home on a sacrifice fly to deep left-field.
The Warriors evened the score by putting up a two spot in the bottom of the second. Coby Cress led off with a double down the right-field line. One out later, he was joined on the base pads by Torin Shaikh, the result of a walk.
That brought up Brandon Allen whose ground ball to second was mishandled by the Vanguard shortstop resulting in the bases loaded with one away. Phil Prickett brought home Cress with a ground ball to the shortstop that retired Allen at second and moved Shaikh to third. Jarratt Rouse reached first and drove in Shaikh with a ground ball deep in the hole at short to account for the second run.
Westmont's go-ahead run came in the sixth inning. Shaikh walked to start things up for the Warriors then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Allen. Shaikh scored by virtue of an error committed by the shortstop on a ground ball by Prickett.
The Warriors added what proved to be the winning run in the seventh. With one away, J.J. Turbin singled to left and then stole second. Jordan Bottenfield's single to right-center drove home Turbin to make the score 4-2.
Vanguard made it interesting in the top of the ninth inning after Regalado replaced Cabuling on the mound. After Arroyo led off with a double down the left-field line, Pesante singled down the right-field line to advance Arroyo to third.
Alex Ariza was called upon to pinch hit and sent a ground ball down to Shaikh at first base. Shaikh fired the ball to Brent Fukushima covering second, retiring Pesante. Fukushima tagged the base and threw to Regalado who covered first and completed the double play. Arroyo scored on the play. Regalado then coaxed Sean Wilson into flying out to center-field.
In the nightcap, starter Geoff Rocha pitched out of several jams in his four innings of work, allowing just one run on two hits. He struck out two and walked five.
Freshman Ryan Sullivan (1-1) relieved Rocha and pitched five scoreless innings to earn his first collegiate win. Sullivan allowed just two hits, struck out four and did not permit a walk.
"Sullivan gained a little bit of confidence as a freshman coming in last week against Biola," said Cougoule, "Today he attacked the strike zone and had good command of his change up. He was getting a lot of ground balls and a lot of swing and miss with his change up."
Vanguard's loss was charged to starter Corey Kohnke who gave up five runs, four earned, on 10 hits in five innings of work. Kohnke threw three strikeouts without giving up a walk. Mike Leal pitched the final three innings for the Lions, giving up two hits without allowing a run.
Offensively, the Warriors' runs came in the first and fifth innings. Lead-off hitter Fukushima started the game with a smash back to the pitcher which he then beat out for a base hit. A sacrifice bunt by Turbin moved Fukushima to second before Bottenfield doubled to left-center to drive in Fukushima. Cress then drove in Bottenfield with an infield single, making it a 2-0 game.
Fukushima also got the ball rolling in the fifth inning. With one away, Fukushima singled to right-field and then advanced to second on a single up the middle by Turbin. A single by Bottenfield scored Fukushima and moved Turbin to third.
Cress followed with a single through the right side to drive in Turbin and move Bottenfield to third. Bottenfield then scored on a pass ball.
The two teams will meet again on Saturday as the Warriors travel to Costa Mesa for a twelve o'clock doubleheader.
