Lions gain ground

When his Vanguard University baseball team won the first game of its Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheader against visiting Westmont on Thursday, Lions Coach Rob Pegg began channeling his inner Gordon Gekko.

“If you told me going into the [three-game series that began Wednesday with a 3-1 Vanguard win] that we would win the series, I would take that,” Pegg said. “But after we took the first two games, you want to be greedy and win them all.”

After a 5-3 victory in the first game Thursday, No. 18-ranked Vanguard, which entered the series two games behind the first-place, No. 6-ranked Warriors, almost completed the hostile takeover, before coming up short, 9-5, in Game 2.

Westmont (24-6, 14-4 in conference) surrendered a 5-0 lead, before scoring four in the eighth to post the extra-inning triumph in the second game to wrestle back sole possession of first place. The second games of GSAC doubleheaders are scheduled for seven innings.

Vanguard (23-8-1, 13-5) continued its recent success against Westmont during Pegg’s four seasons at the helm. The Lions have won five of seven three-game sets against the Warriors, and a scheduling adjustment limits them to one regular-season series in 2016.

But Vanguard just missed pulling off its first season sweep of the Warriors since 2007, when the Lions won all four meetings. A Game 2 win Thursday would also have marked the first Vanguard three-game win streak in the series since 2007.

“It would have been really, really nice if we had snuck that one out and stole [the finale],” Pegg said. “We were 90 feet away. But to have the No. 6 team in the country come to your yard and you win two of three is nice. And we are sitting a game back of them [in the standings].”

Even threatening to stave off defeat seemed improbable in Game 2, with Westmont leading, 5-0, heading to the bottom of the fifth inning.

But the Lions batted around to score three runs in the fifth, and pared the deficit further with a run in the sixth.

In the Vanguard seventh, there were two outs and a runner on second when junior right fielder Brock Eissman pulled a drive down the right-field line. The ball appeared to clearly hit close to a foot foul, but the home-plate umpire called it fair, giving Eissman a game-tying RBI triple. Eissman was stranded at third, however, and the game went to the eighth.

This time, Westmont batted around, converting three singles, two walks, a hit batter and the last of Vanguard’s four errors to avoid what surely would have been a soul-crushing defeat.

Five different Lions drove in runs in Game 2, including Brandon Sandoval, who joined Jose Rojas and Trai Patrick as Lions with two hits apiece.

In the opener, Eissman and Paul Keating had two hits for the hosts, while Sandoval drove in two to up Vanguard’s lead to 5-0 after four innings.

Rojas, Patrick and Matt Harris added single RBIs in the opener, in which senior ace Sean Isaac allowed one run on five hits in six innings to earn his eighth win in nine decisions.

Vanguard senior Michael Ostrea got the final eight outs to earn his second save.

Sandoval went three for six with three RBIs in the doubleheader and was four for nine in the series.

Keating was three for four and reached base six times in Thursday’s two games.

Westmont freshman Alex Bush homered and reached base five times in the Warriors’ victory. He also made his second start of the season in three mound appearances, and left after five innings in line for the win.

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Golden State Athletic Conference

Game 2

Westmont 9, Vanguard 5 (8 innings)

SCORE BY INNINGS

Westmont 130 010 04 – 9 11 2

Vanguard 000 031 10 – 5 9 4

Bush, Sheehan (6) and Costa; Steele, Johnson (2), Arriaga (5), Silberman (6), Jordan (8) and Bettencourt, Wright (3). W – Sheehan, 2-1. L – Silberman, 0-1. 2B – Rojas (VU), Patrick (VU). 3B – Eissman (VU). HR – A. Bush (W).

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Game 1

Vanguard 5, Westmont 3

SCORE BY INNINGS

Westmont 000 010 101 – 3 8 0

Vanguard 101 300 00x – 5 9 1

Gaydos, Larson (4), Simpson (5), Farago (7), Rishwain (7) and Costa; Isaac, Sheehan (7), Ostrea (8) and Bettencourt. W – Isaac, 8-1. L – Gaydos, 6-2. Sv – Ostrea (2). 2B – Eissman (VU), Keating (VU), Harris (VU), Rodigo (W).