Feb. 5, 2002

Results

Los Angeles, CA (February 5, 2002)-- The Loyola Marymount University (LMU) baseball team left 13 runners on base, including the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, as they drop a 6-5 non-conference contest to Cal State Northridge on Tuesday afternoon at Page Stadium.

Playing their first home game of the season and the first with the newly remodeled Mikos Blue Monster, the 150-foot leftfield wall, the Lions (2-2) jumped out to a 3-0 first inning lead but couldn't hold on down the stretch. The Matadors (4-0) would score two runs in the top of the seventh to take their first lead of the game at 6-5.

The lead would hold as Phil Polanco earned his first save of the season by getting out of a jam in the bottom of the ninth that saw the Lions get the winning run to second base with one out. Sophomore Nathan Durham-Hammer, freshman Joseph Hendricks each drew one out walks. Both would advance to third and second, respectively, on Polanco's balk, the Matadors fourth of the game. Polanco, however, forced Sean Smith to hit a grounder that caught Durham-Hammer trying to score. He then struck out Frazee to end the inning, leaving the tieing run at third and the go ahead run stranded at first.

The two runners left on base in the ninth gave the Lions 13 for the game, as they left the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh and the bottom of the fifth.

LMU would start the game with a three-run first that featured a leadoff single by sophomore Billy Lockin and a double by sophomore Jonathan Higashi, who stretched his hitting streak to 10 games. Senior Kris Zacuto would score Lockin on a single, while freshman Christian Campos would score Higashi on a gounder to second base. Freshman Anthony Santana would finish the scoring with a sacrifice fly to score Zacuto. The Lions would get another run in the bottom of the second when Smith scored on a balk.

The Matadors would chip away at the lead with a run in the second and the third before tieing the score at 4-4 with a pair of runs in the fifth inning. The big hit came on Shaun Larkin's fifth home run of the season, a two-run shot that scored Rudy Simpson, who reached on an error.

LMU would quickly get the run back in the bottom of the fifth. Lockin began the inning with a single. He would score on an error and finish the game 2-for-4. Zacuto finished the game 2-for-5 and knocked his 46th double as a Lion, moving him into a tie with Joe Ciccarella for seventh all-time at LMU.

In the seventh, Adam Nikolic would lead the inning with a single. After reliever Vincent Cordova struckout Simpson, freshman Scott Sarver entered the game and walked the next two batters to set-up Eric Verbryke's two-RBI single that proved to be the difference.

Sarver earned his first loss as a Lion, while Justin Fortugno earned the win for Northridge.

The Lions will play the UCLA Bruins on Monday, Feb. 11 at Page Stadium.

-GO LIONS-