Phoenix, AZ- In a matchup featuring two of the GSAC's best inning eaters, Arizona Christian came up on the short end of a 3-1 decision against #15 Vanguard on Friday.  Junior Dean Jackson threw his third complete game of the season but dropped to 1-2 in those nine inning efforts.

After striking out the side in the first, Jackson surrendered a double and RBI single in the second to fall behind 1-0 and allow his lone earned run of the game.  He actually responded by striking out the side again in the third.  Jackson ended up with eight strikeouts.

In the fifth, Junior Jake Howard singled leading off the inning.  Freshman Trent Troncone came in as courtesy runner.  Sophomore Michael Dunnebecke moved Troncone up into scoring position.  Troncone then scored on a RBI double to right center by Senior Christopher Burks to tie the game at 1-1.

With two outs in the seventh, Jackson- fifth in the GSAC with 65.1 innings tossed- had only allowed three base runners.  But with a chance to get out of the inning, Jackson could not properly handle a ball hit back in his direction and that opened the door for the Lions (24-9-1, 14-5 GSAC) to score two runs for the 3-1 edge.

The Firestorm (9-20, 6-16 GSAC) managed base runners in all of the final four innings including a runner all the way to third in the seventh but could not manufacture another run.

Vanguard's Sean Isaac- second in the GSAC with 74.2 innings- matched Jackson pitch for pitch for eight innings to record the win.

On Saturday, Arizona Christian and Vanguard will meet up again at Firestorm Field for two games beginning at 11:00 am.