Lions

COSTA MESA - The Vanguard University baseball team saved its best for last Saturday, but that still wasn't enough to avert a sweep by visiting Arizona Christian in a Golden State Athletic Conference doubleheader. The Lions (14-19, 7-13 in conference), who came in hoping for at least a split to help their battle to climb back into the upper half of the seven-team conference standings, scored four runs on five hits in the ninth inning of an 8-5 opening-game loss. In Game 2, the hosts entered their seventh and final at-bat with just two hits, but strung together three singles to bring the potential tying run to the plate, before succumbing, 4-0. "We showed a lot of heart and we keep grinding and keep trying to get it done, so you have to applaud [the players]

Vanguard University junior guard Nicole Ballestero was named first-team all-tournament at the NAIA championships completed Tuesday in Frankfort, Ky. Ballestero, a first-team All-Golden State Athletic Conference perfomer in her first season at Vanguard after transferring from San Diego, averaged 24,7 points, 3.7 assists and three rebounds to help the Lions win twice and advance to the quarterfinals. Ballestero shot 56.3% from three-point range (nine for 16), 44.6% from the field (29 for 65)

WOMEN'S  BASKETBALL Vanguard 85, Williams Woods 60 FRANKFORT, Ky - Junior guard Nicole Ballestero scored 25 points and three other Lions scored in double figures in the second-round game of the NAIA Championships on Friday at the Frankfort Convention Center. The win sets up a quarterfinal clash with top-seeded Freed-Hardeman of Tennessee (33-1) on Saturday at 3 p.m. PST. Freed-Hardeman defeated Campbellsville of Kentucky, 71-52, on Friday. Vanguard (25-3) shot 51.6% from the field (32 for 62)

IRVINE - When it came time to tally the titles, Vanguard University women's basketball coach Russ Davis was suddenly at a loss for details. It was attention to detail, however, that helped the No. 8-ranked Lions upset the No. 3-ranked Warriors, 63-57, in the Golden State Athletic Conference Tournament final on Tuesday at Concordia University. It was the 11th GSAC crown of Davis' 17-season tenure, but the first in three years, as the Lions (23-3) earned the conference's guaranteed berth in the NAIA Division I tournament field, with action in Frankfort, Ky., from March 13-19.

BASEBALL Vanguard 7, Biola 3 LA MIRADA - Bryce Arroyo went three for five with two runs batted in for the Lions in the Golden State Athletic Conference game Friday. Adonis Tountas went two for five with two RBIs for Vanguard 9-8, 4-8 in conference. Biola is 13-10, 5-8. * Portland 2, UC Irvine 0 IRVINE - The Pilots scored two runs on Anteaters' starter Andrew Thurman in the first inning and held on for the nonconference win Friday. Thurman (1-1)

IRVINE - Vanguard University Coach Rhett Soliday played and coached at Concordia, so he doesn't need any kind of reminder about the magic the Eagles have had in Golden State Athletic Conference men's basketball action. And, frankly, he'd just as soon avoid the kind of nostalgia he experienced Tuesday night, when his Lions missed a 17-foot jumper at the buzzer to come up just short, 82-81, at Concordia. The two teams went back and fourth all night and the lead changed hands six times in the final 1:51.

COSTA MESA — A dramatic finish displaced the built-in beginning theme, but Vanguard University baseball coach Rob Pegg was certainly unwilling to quibble with his first day of competition at the helm of his alma mater. Pegg's Lions rallied for four runs in their last at-bat of the seven-inning second game to defeat La Sierra, 5-4, and sweep the nonconference doubleheader on Monday at Vanguard. After senior third baseman Jason Ochart walked with the bases loaded to drive in the tying run, senior Jordan Mould scored from third on a wild pitch to senior Ethan Harper to spark a boisterous celebration after a game in which the Lions were down to their final out and trailing, 4-1. Senior Nikko Tountas began the winning rally with a one-out pinch double and, one out later, sophomore Taylor McKnight barely cleared the left-field fence with a two-run home run against La Sierra reliever Logan Duran.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL Vanguard 114, Arizona Christian 54 COSTA MESA - Esther Timmermans had 32 points and 10 rebounds and Chelsea Alfafara had 31 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for the Lions in the Golden State Athletic Conference game Saturday. Nicole Ballestero added 15 assists to go with 12 points for Vanguard (12-1, 3-1 in conference), ranked No. 1 in the NAIA. Alison Drennan had 13 points and eight rebounds and Samantha Doucette recorded 10 points and nine rebounds for the Lions.

COSTA MESA - The consensus in sports is that numbers don't lie. But they can occasionally deceive. The latter may have been the case Tuesday, as the Vanguard University women's basketball team needed less than 12 hours to refute the No. 1 national ranking bestowed upon it earlier Tuesday for the first time since 2007. The case against the Lions' unanimous ascension to the top of the NAIA Division I poll was presented by visiting No. 11-ranked Westmont, which earned a 66-56 Golden State Athletic Conference victory at Vanguard for the third straight season.