College Baseball: Lions No. 4 seed in GSAC tourney

The Vanguard University baseball team is the No. 4 seed in the four-team, double-elimination Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament that begins Thursday at The Master’s College.

The Lions (34-18, 27-15 in conference) play top-seeded and No. 8-ranked The Master’s (41-10, 33-9) at noon on Thursday. Should Vanguard lose, it would play again at 3 p.m. If it wins, Vanguard would play Thursday at 3 p.m.

The Lions defeated The Master’s in the regular-season finale to snap a four-game losing streak and lost six of their final nine regular-season games. Vanguard had 13 losses that were one- or two-run margins.

Vanguard is led offensively by junior shortstop Jose Rojas, who hit .318 with nine home runs and 48 runs batted in. Other standouts include junior Paul Keating (.340, two homers, 28 RBIS, 12 stolen bases), sophomore Brock Eissman (.298, seven homers, 35 RBIs), and sophomore Brandon Sandoval (.286, 24 RBIs, 35 steals).

VU’s top pitchers are junior Sean Isaac (8-4 with a 2.60 earned-run average) and senior left-hander Scott Torrey (6-1, 2.97 ERA).

No. 11-ranked Westmont (37-13) is the No. 2 seed in the tournament and No, 19 Concordia (40-14) is the No. 3 seed.

The tournament continues through Saturday.

— Barry Faulkner