Winning road games is tough at any part of the season but that fact was especially true on Wednesday when the Warriors squeaked out two narrow victories at Vanguard to open up their final week of the regular season.
The first victory came in an offensive shootout as the Warriors held on 8-7, but in game two Jessup had to grind out a pitching battle as they held on for a 2-1 win.
In game one, Jessup (32-10 overall, 22-8 GSAC) got off to a sluggish start allowing six Vanguard runs in the opening two innings as the Warriors found themselves down 6-1.
However after a pitching change from
Micah Gunter to Manny Velazquez was made, the Jessup defense held the Lions (31-18 overall, 17-13 GSAC) to just one run the rest of the game.
In the fifth inning, the Warriors' bats came alive as the team scored three runs in the third and added two more in the sixth to tie things at six all leading into the bottom of the frame.
The offensive uptick came from
Anders Green who hit a two-run homer that cut the lead to 4-6. Then later in the sixth
Kawaiola Takemura hit another 2-run homer tying the game at six all.
After Vanguard regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth it was a second homer of the day by Green that became the game-winner as he gave the Warriors a one-run lead they wouldn't relinquish.
The two homers by Green give him the team-high lead with 11. On the mound, a collective effort help seal the win as Velaquez pitch two innings with three strikeouts, while
Jordan Yu and
Tyler Fujimoto added two more strikeouts in their combined four innings pitched.
In game two, Jessup took the early lead on a
Joe Starick single up the left side that scored a run in the first inning. However, Vanguard quickly responded with a score of their own knotting things up at one apiece.
The biggest play of the game came in the third inning when
Jordan Williams rockets a ground ball to the Vanguard shortstop who committed an error allowing
Noah Shackles to score.
Both teams struggled the rest of the afternoon to find any offense as they went scoreless the final four innings helping Jessup hold on to the one-run lead for good.
On the mound for Jessup,
Grant St. Martin pitched five innings allowing three hits, two walks, and earned run. He also had three strikeouts in 18 at-bats.
The Warriors will be back in action Thursday at Vanguard when they play their final double-header of the conference season with the first game coming at 11 a.m.
The Warriors currently hold a one-game lead over Arizona Christian for the Conference lead. ACU plays Westmont in their final doubleheader of the season tomorrow as well.
