College Baseball: Lions continue historic run
SANTA CLARITA — The murmurs in the stands are growing louder and more frequent about the Vanguard University baseball team.
“Where did this team come from?” one spectator asked turning to another Wednesday at The Master’s College, site of one of seven five-team first-round tournaments that will send each winner to the NAIA World Series.
With three wins in two days, including an 8-2 triumph against the University of British Columbia on Wednesday, it is starting to become more about where the Lions could be headed than from whence they came.
Vanguard, the second-to-last school admitted to the 45-team first-round tournament field after losing six of its previous seven in the regular season and Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament, is one win away from the school’s first NAIA World Series berth.
Coach Rob Pegg’s squad (39-20), which continues to build upon its single-season victory record that had been 36, appears to be peaking at the optimal time.
Vanguard will face an undetermined opponent on Thursday at 3 p.m. for the right to punch its ticket to Lewiston, Idaho, the site of the World Series held May 22-29 at Lewis-Clark State College. Should Vanguard lose on Thursday, it would play the deciding game of the double-elimination tournament on Friday at noon.
“We’re resurrecting,” said Vanguard senior third baseman Taylor McKnight, who led the 12-hit attack Wednesday by going three for four with a two-run home run, a double and two runs scored. “We had no idea we were going to make this opening round, and when we heard … We’re just resurrecting at the right time. It’s a new beginning.”
McKnight’s dinger, his second of the season, was the second of the first inning for the Lions, who scored four runs in the ninth inning to overcome a 7-4 deficit and stun top-seeded host and GSAC champion The Master’s on Tuesday.
Sophomore right fielder Brock Eissman erased a 2-0 deficit with one swing against UBC (39-18). Eissman launched a three-run bomb, his eighth of the season, over the fence in left-center field to help the designated hosts score six runs on six hits in the opening frame.
From there, senior slow-balling left-hander Jordan Moak, who, thanks to a pair of Vanguard errors was saddled with two unearned runs in the first inning, allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings. Moak, whom Pegg calls the Dragon Slayer for his penchant for coming up big in big games against more heralded mound rivals, allowed five hits in eight innings with four walks and two strikeouts. He improved to 5-4 and pared his earned-run average from 3.47 to 3.05.
“He’s big,” Pegg said of Moak, whose 118 pitches were most often in a Little League-esque 69-75 mph range. “I call him the Dragon Slayer. He has been matched up in big games against big pitchers all year. And he just does what he does. He just knows how to get guys out. His [soft stuff] is effective.”
The same jet stream blowing out to left field that helped both Vanguard homers, also benefited Moak, the Golden West College transfer said.
“Actually, the wind [blowing briskly all game long] may have helped the break on my pitches,” Moak said.
It is an unbreakable bond between Vanguard teammates that both Moak and McKnight said is fueling the sudden, and historic postseason success.
“We have the same heartbeat,” McKnight said. “We all really work together and we’re really vibing right now.”
Added Moak: “We feel like we are more of a team than most of the teams we play. There is just more trust associated with it and these guys will have my back to the very end and then beyond. I would do the same for them. Any of us would take a bullet for each other and that’s huge. That’s every team’s goal and we’ve achieved it. As long as we continue to do our best and play to the best of our abilities, we’ll go a long way.”
Pegg, in his third season and second straight NAIA first-round tournament, also acknowledged that something special is going on here.
“[The win over The Master’s, in which Vanguard also erased a 4-0 deficit to tie the game before adding the walk-off comeback] Tuesday was really a miraculous game in a lot of ways,” Pegg said. “And [beating UBC] was a big win. That’s a good team and for us to come out and get [the Thunderbirds] … Now we have to come out tomorrow and get one more. That’s the only focus we have now.”
Added Moak: “There has been a lot of trust-building with our team. We have a lot of guys coming through when it really matters. Some people saw us as the Cinderella team, but we have what it takes to go all the way. If it’s by God’s will and God’s grace to do it, we’ll go.”
Sophomore left fielder Brandon Sandoval was two for five with one RBI and one run and fellow first-team All-GSAC performer Jose Rojas, a junior shortstop, was two for four with a triple and a run.
Senior designated hitter Brett Collins was also two for three with one RBI and two runs for the winners.
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NAIA Championship First-Round Tournament
Vanguard 8, British Columbia 2
SCORE BY INNINGS
UBC 200 000 000 – 2 7 0
VU 600 002 00x – 8 12 3
Newton, Smith (6), Duen (8) and Firth; Moak, Ostrea (9) and Bettencourt. W – Moak. L – Newton. 2B – McKnight (VU). 3B – Rojas (VU). HR – Eissman (VU). McKnight (VU).