PLNU swept a doubleheader with #9 Vanguard by scores of 12-5 and 9-3 at Carroll B. Land Stadium on Saturday, pushing the Sea Lions past the visiting Lions for second place in the GSAC. Both teams now stand at 17-7 in conference play, with PLNU having won three of the four head-to-head matchups.

It was the Sea Lions' bats that carried them on Saturday, complemented by steady pitching performances from Chad Blauer and Robby Ross.

In game one, PLNU scored seven runs in the fifth inning to pull away. Rashad Taylor and Jeff Fox each hit three-run homers off Vanguard's Peter Birdwell, who took the loss. VU starter Javier Perez had been chased from the game earlier, after a four-run Sea Lions first inning.

Vanguard plated three runs in the fourth and another in the fifth, but the Sea Lions' offensive explosion in the bottom half of the inning put the game out of reach.

The Sea Lion bats picked up right where they left off in the second game, scoring in every inning but the sixth. Ross ran into some trouble in the second inning, as Vanguard took a 3-2 lead on a solo homer from Jason Dovel, an RBI single and a balk. Two of the runs were unearned due to a PLNU error.

PLNU quickly retook the lead in the bottom half of the second when Allen Boyer blasted a two-run homer. The Sea Lions would add a run in the third, two in the fourth and two in the fifth to go up 9-3. Ross settled in on the mound and ended up going the distance and striking out nine to earn the win.

Vanguard starter Lance Abbott gave up seven runs in four innings of work and took the loss. Boyer, Tyler Kuehl and Kevin Newburg each drove in two runs in the win.

PLNU plays at home this week on Wednesday and Thursday against The Master's (17-19, 10-14). Both games are scheduled to start at 3 p.m.

-Jeremiah Wood