Phoenix, AZ- In games that appeared to be blowouts, Arizona Christian made late inning comebacks to turn the games into close contests.  But neither comeback was quite enough as ACU fell 11-8 and 9-8 to #15 Vanguard on Saturday.  Junior Jake Howard clobbered two home runs in game two.

In the first game, the Lions (26-9-1, 16-5 GSAC) jumped out to a 10-0 edge after six innings.

Down to their final nine outs and subs galore in the game, the Firestorm (9-22, 6-18 GSAC) started scoring.

An unearned run in the seventh erased the shutout. 

Three walks and a hit batter opened the door for ACU to plate four runs in the eighth.  Junior Landon Teramoto walked in a run.  Junior Zach Vogel collected an RBI.  Freshman Michael Chung doubled home a run.  Junior Kai Davis drove in the last run of the inning.

Following another run for Vanguard in the top of the ninth, Teramoto reached on a fielder's choice.  Senior Christopher Burks walked.  Vogel drove in Teramoto before Chung doubled home Burks and Vogel.  The game ended with Chung stranded on the bases.

Spotting VU a two spot in the second inning of game two, ACU responded with three runs in the third.  Senior Tate Erickson singled home Senior AJ Arroyo.  Howard then drilled a two run shot to left center to give Arizona Christian their only lead of the day at 3-2.

Unfortunately, the Lions tied the game at 3-3 on the first pitch of the top of the fourth with a home run of their own.  Before ACU could get out of the inning, Vanguard had pushed across five more runs and held an 8-3 lead.

Howard jumped started another comeback bid when he crushed a round tripper to dead center in the sixth.  ACU added three more runs to make it an 8-7 game.

An unearned run in the top of seventh for VU turned out to be huge.  With their final three outs to play with the Firestorm used three one out singles to make it a one run affair at 9-8.  But ACU left runners at the corners when the game to an end.

On Friday, the Firestorm will head to Arcadia to face off with Providence Christian for three games.  The games will be played at Arcadia Park beginning at 3:00 pm on Friday.