By Zach DeMarcus
March 23, 2019
 
(SANTA BARBARA, Calif.) #3 Westmont (23-6, 10-6 GSAC) dropped both ends of today's Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheader to #23 Vanguard (22-10, 11-5 GSAC) and fell out of first place in the process.
 
Westmont head coach Robert Ruiz said, "I just think that we did a poor job of executing our job offensively. In fact, we really didn't get anything going offensively. We were playing not to lose. We weren't playing to win and we're better than that."
 
Justin Sanders took the mound for the Warriors in game one. Sanders would not factor in the decision as he gave up four runs on six hits while striking out nine against one walk.
 
The Lions struck first in the top of the second inning. Maxx Mahon hit a lead-off single to left field. Sanders followed with two straight strikeouts. Vanguard responded with back-to-back singles by Sam Neufeld and Caleb Squire to bring in Mahon with two outs.
 
Vanguard added two more the following inning as Joe Johnson reached on a one-out single to left field. Omar Ortiz followed by hitting a 2-1 pitch well over the left field fence for a two-run home run – giving Vanguard a 3-0 lead through three innings.
 
Westmont got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning. Bryce Morison hit a lead-off double down the left field line. After a strikeout, Nicky Sablock switched places with Morison by hitting an RBI-double of his own down the left field line.
 
The Lions responded with a run in the top of the fifth as Landon Riker hit a one-out opposite field solo home run to right field – extending Vanguard's lead to 4-1 through five.
 
In the top of the sixth, Sanders surrendered a lead-off walk to Mahon. He stuck out the following Lions' batter and induced a fly out. An error by the third baseman left runners on second and third with two outs. Sanders locked in and coaxed the next Vanguard batter to groundout to shortstop to end the inning.
 
Westmont added three in the bottom of the sixth as Morison and Travis Vander Molen drew back-to-back walks off Vanguard's starting pitcher Garret Molnar. Molnar then drilled Sablock in the back to load the bases with no outs.
 
The Lions went to the bullpen to bring in right-hander Ryan Daugherty. The Warriors responded by bringing up pinch-hitter Daniel Netz. Daugherty's first pitch was a passed ball that allowed all three runners to advance 90 feet – scoring Morison. With a 2-2 count, Netz hit a soft one hopper to the first baseman – Vander Molen broke for home on the play. Vanguard's first baseman's throw home was wide up the line. Vander Molen and Sablock scored on the error to tie the game at 4-4 and Netz advanced to second.
 
Daugherty settled in to strand Netz at second as he sat the next three Westmont hitters down in order with two strikeouts and a fly out. Westmont scored all three of their runs in the inning without recording a hit.
 
Left-hander Will Anderson came on in relief to throw the seventh. He threw clean seventh and eighth innings.
 
In the top of the ninth, Squire reached on a lead-off single to center field – Elijah Weeks came on as the pinch runner. Vanguard's hitter was called out after three failed bunt attempts. Anderson then struck out the next Vanguard batter. With two outs, the left-hander came back from a 3-0 count to strikeout Riker – striking out the side and keeping the game level at four going into the bottom of the ninth.
 
Daugherty sat the Warriors down in order in the bottom of the ninth.
 
Johnson hit a solo home run to right field to lead off the top of the tenth. Anderson struck out Ortiz before being replaced by right-hander Nolan Cannon. Cannon gave up a single and then induced a fly out. The right-hander then struggled to find the zone as he walked the next three hitters allowing Mahon to score.
 
Dante Poleselli came in to pitch with two outs and the bases juiced. Julio Rivera hit a two-RBI double down the left field line. After issuing a walk, Poleselli coaxed a Vanguard fly out to end the tenth. Vanguard scored four runs in the inning and would go on to win by a score of 8-4 through 10 innings.
 
Anderson was charged with the loss while Daugherty was award the win for the Lions.


"Will was good today. Collectively as a team we weren't good. We need to learn that this game is a team game and it takes everybody contributing and doing their part to go out and win baseball games," commented Ruiz.
 
Right-hander Toby Dunlap was given the ball to start game two for the Warriors. He was charged with the loss as he gave up two runs on two hits through his two innings of work.
 
The Lions wasted no time getting on the board. With two outs in the top of the first, Ortiz hit an opposite filed home run over the right field fence – his second of the day to give Vanguard the early 1-0 lead.
 
In the top of the second, Squire hit a lead-off double off the wall in right field. Neufeld then sacrificed Squire over to third. Squire later scored on a wild pitch – extending the Lions' lead to 2-0.
 
Dylan Sund came in to throw the third for the Warriors. Rivera hit a lead-off single to center field – Weeks came on as the courtesy runner. Riker followed with a walk. Sund got an out via a fly out – Weeks advanced to third. Riker then stole second. Ortiz followed with a two-RBI single to left field and advanced to second on the throw home from the left fielder. Mahon kept the rally going by drawing a walk.
 
Austin Sisley was then brought in from the bullpen for Westmont. He got a strike out and a fly out to end the threat.
 
The Warriors threatened in the third. Sablock led off with a single. After a fly out, Sablock advanced to second on a balk. Alex Stufft hit a soft groundball single to the short stop – Sablock advanced to third on the play. Vanguard's starter Tyler Steele was able to get the next two Westmont batters to strikeout and fly out to avoid any damage.
 
The Lions scored two more runs in the top of the fourth. Chad Sutton drew a one-out walk. Rivera followed with a double down the left field line – Sutton advanced to third and Weeks came on to run for Rivera. Riker hit a slow groundball to the third baseman who short hopped the catcher – permitting Sutton to score on the error and Weeks to advance to third.
 
Kody McLain came on to get the final two outs of the inning. Johnson hit a groundball to second base, but the ball was thrown away – allowing Weeks to score on the error. McLain continued to work and got a strike out and a ground out to end the fourth.
 
Westmont got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Sablock drew a lead-off walk and Daniel Netz followed with a single through the left side. After a fly out and a fielder's choice, pinch-hitter Kyle Soria came up with two outs and runners on first and third. With a 3-1 count, Soria nailed the 3-1 offering from Steele that snuck over the right field fence for a three-run home run – cutting Vanguard's six-run lead in half at 6-3.
 
Ruiz said, "Kyle coming off the injury he's coming off of and coming in and having a good at bat and playing well behind the plate was great to see.. I'm proud of him for his continued perseverance"
 
McLain hung up two zeros in the sixth and the seventh, but much like the story of the day Westmont's offense was unable to get anything going in the final two frames. Vanguard took the series three games to one with the 6-3 game-two victory.
 
"We really didn't earn much this weekend and we gave a lot of away. We just got out played. We're so much better than we showed defensively, offensively, and on the mound. Vanguard got us this time, but we'll certainly be prepared for them next time," finished Ruiz.
 
The Warriors will take the week to prepare to travel to Fullerton to face Hope International next Friday and Saturday for a four-game GSAC series. Both doubleheaders are scheduled for an 11:00 a.m. first pitch.