Lions on top of game
SANTA CLARITA — After a humbling ninth-inning stumble on Tuesday and a two-hour-plus bus ride to The Master’s College on Friday, the Vanguard University baseball team was about due for an outburst.
Mission accomplished.
Junior left fielder Brandon Sandoval opened the game with a home run inside the left-field foul pole, then junior right fielder Brock Eissman hit the first pitch of the second inning over the fence in right-center for the first of his two home runs.
Senior pitching ace Sean Isaac was dominant for the first seven of his eight innings, and the No. 9-ranked Lions came away with a 6-1 Golden State Athletic Conference triumph that was as impressive as it was important.
“I feel like our entire team exploded on [the Mustangs],” said Eissman, who was three for four with three runs batted in and two runs scored to lead a nine-hit attack for the Lions (35-10-1, 20-5 in conference).
The two homers doubled his season total and continued a resurgence for Eissman, who ended a 39-game homerless streak on April 12 and in the last six games, has gone eight for 21 with seven RBIs and three dingers.
Isaac, who improved to 12-1 and shares the NAIA victories lead, allowed just three hits and struck out nine through seven innings, before pitching into and out of trouble in the eighth.
Isaac, who earned his first career victory over TMC (29-15, 14-11) allowed two hits, including a line drive off the back of his legs to open the Mustangs’ eighth. Two walks and a groundout followed to put the tying run on deck, but Isaac induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the uprising. He then bounded off toward the dugout shouting, pumping his fist and high-fiving teammates with imposing force.
Sandoval and senior center fielder Paul Keating had two hits apiece and combined for three RBIs, while senior shortstop Jose Rojas and senior catcher Kevin Bettencourt both doubled to give Isaac some rare offensive support, most notably a 4-0 cushion midway through the third inning.
“Not to knock my guys, but [a comfortable lead] is not something I’ve been used to,” said Isaac, who pared his earned-run average to 2.01 and now has 120 strikeouts in 98 2/3 innings. “The entire season, they grind for me, and, to their credit, they face the other team’s ace as well. But for them to do that for me today put me over the top and let me do what I had to do.”
Vanguard Coach Robb Pegg said he would love to see his team duplicate its effort Friday the rest of the season.
“In my opinion, that was the best our team has played this season, in terms of being emotionally invested and showing focus,” said Pegg, whose team improved to 16-2 on the road and has now won five straight games at The Master’s diamond, including four playoff victories last year that propelled the Lions to the NAIA World Series.
“Our guys say this is our home away from home,” Pegg said. “And I think we are better on the road.”
The road is winding down on the regular season and the Lions continue to chase No. 7-ranked Westmont (37-7, 21-4), which beat Biola Friday to maintain its one-game lead in the GSAC standings with five conference games left.
“Our challenge is to keep that playoff mindset going with the few days of regular-season baseball we have left,” Pegg said. “I want to see if we can do that again with the same energy, because now we know what that feels like.”
The Lions and Mustangs play a doubleheader on Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m.
—
Golden State Athletic Conference
Vanguard 6, The Master’s 1
SCORE BY INNINGS
VU 112 002 000 – 6 9 0
TMC 000 000 010 – 1 6 1
Isaac, Ostrea (9) and Bettencourt; Karkenny, Brazil (7) and Shaeffer. W – Isaac, 12-1. L – Karkenny, 9-5. 2B – Bettencourt (VU), Rojas (VU), Van Horn (TMC). 3B – Sandoval (VU). HR – Sandoval (VU), Eissman (VU) 2.
