COSTA MESA, Calif. – A rivalry renewed in Division II, as on Friday, Jessup and Vanguard met for the first time as members of the PacWest Conference. Beginning a three-game series in Costa Mesa, Vanguard got the better of Jessup in game one, but the Warriors dazzled in game two, setting up a rubber game on Saturday.
Friday's doubleheader was Jessup's fifth and sixth contest in the last four days, as the PacWest season began with the Warriors setting up shop in Los Angeles for a week. Jessup enters the finale of their southern excursion sitting 2-4 in those games.
The opening contest was one Jessup wanted to quickly forget, as a five-run fourth inning included two Jessup errors, placing the Warriors in a 6-0 hole. Vanguard would add to their tally with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, and with the eighth and winning run on second base, Jessup managed to escape the inning and get to the sixth.
It's become the Warrior way to evade an early exit only to plate runs in the next frame, and Friday was no different. A
Maddy Ybarra sacrifice fly in the sixth got Jessup on the board, and then
Sarah Giles tacked on two more with a two-run double to right field. Those would be the final runs of the game, as Vanguard took the opener, 7-3.
Alexandria Himes lasted 4.1 innings, allowing seven runs (three earned) before head coach
Brie Campbell turned to freshman
Jazlyn Villavicencio out of the bullpen. Himes is now 3-5 in her first season with the Warriors.
Villavicencio logged 1.2 scoreless innings of relief in game one, earning the trust of her coach to trot out to the circle for game two. Making her third start of the season, the young right-hander looked to wash away the memory from her short-lived outing against Biola 48 hours ago.
The memory is officially gone.
In her welcome-to-college softball moment, Villavicencio logged the first complete game of her career as she blanked the Lions, holding them to six hits in the process. The freshman compiled over eight scoreless innings on the day, lowering her season ERA to 2.18.
It would take some time for the freshman pitcher to get some run support, but Jessup was up for the task. A break came in the fifth when a wild pitch to the backstop allowed
Hannah Dominguez to score what ultimately was the winning run. But Jessup was not satisfied with one, as later in the inning, Ybarra blasted her fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot, to give the Warriors the eventual winning number of 3-0.
Ybarra closed game two as the only Jessup player with multiple hits, going 2-for-2 with a walk at the dish.
The split sets up a rubber game on Saturday, as one game will be played in Costa Mesa to determine the winner of the first PacWest series between these two longtime rivals. First pitch from Costa Mesa is set for noon.
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Jessup University is a provisional member of the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division II and the PacWest Conference. For additional information regarding Jessup Athletics, visit www.jessupathletics.com; visit www.jessup.edu for more information on Jessup University. Follow Jessup Athletics on social media: Jessup University Athletics (Facebook) and @JessupAthletics (Instagram & X).
