April 13, 2002

Final Stats

Los Angeles, CA (April 13, 2002) - Sophomore Jonathan Higashi hit a two-out single to score freshman Joe Frazee in the bottom of the ninth inning to lift Loyola Marymount University (LMU) to a 10-9 win over rival Pepperdine in a battle for first place in the West Coast Conference on Saturday afternoon.

For the second straight game against the Waves (19-19, 8-4), the Lions (15-21, 8-5) would pound out more than 15 hits, this time finishing with 16. Walks, however, caused problems for both teams down the stretch, as the Lions took advantage of Frazee's leadoff walk in the ninth to claim the win.

Frazee would advance on a sacrifice bunt by pinch hitter Joe Silva. After senior Tommy Perez flied out to second base for the second out, sophomore Jonathan Higashi would get his first hit of the day, a single to left center. The hit would score Frazee for the game winner.

The Lions looked to have the game won earlier as they scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to erase a one-run deficit to take a 9-6 lead into the ninth inning. However, reliever Nicholas Lovato would walk the first two hitters of the inning and then gave up a three-run home run to catcher Rock Mills, his first hit of the day, to tie the score at 9-9.

The Waves would actually take a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on another three-run home run, this one by first baseman Chris Kelly. After a single by Jason Payne and a one-out single by Cory Brightwell, Kelly gave the Waves the early lead with the homer over the Mikos Blue Monster in left field.

LMU would start to chip away at the lead with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore Billy Lockin, who finished 2-for-4 with a triple and a double, started the inning with the double down the right field line. He would score of Frazee's single also down the right field line. Frazee finished 2-for-4 with two RBI and extended his hitting streak to 19 games.

Lockin's triple to start the third inning would spark a two-run rally to tie the game at 3-3. Frazee would again score Lockin on a single and would then score himself on an RBI double by Perez. The senior first baseman finished 2-for-5 with two RBI and extended his hitting streak to 17 games.

LMU would get another pair of runs in the fourth inning to take the 5-3 lead. Sophomore Joshua Whitesell would start the inning with his third home run of the season, a solo shot to left-center. With one out, freshman Sean Smith hit a double to left field and then scored on Jonathan Oller's single. Oller finished 3-for-4 on the day with two RBI.

Pepperdine would get a run back in the top of the seventh on Lions' starter Justin Abreu. The junior, despite the three-run first inning, settled down and allowed just four runs on nine hits to set up the Lions win. In his last four appearances, the Lions have claimed three wins. The Waves would then score two runs in the top of the eighth to take a 6-5 lead. Jason Durbin's two-out double scored both Patrick Rooney and Simon Ferrer to give the Waves their first lead since the first inning.

The lead didn't last long as LMU would score four in the bottom of the eighth to chase starter Brandon Boesch. The Lions brought eight hitters to the plate in the inning. Senior Kris Zacuto, who finished 2-for-4 on the day, hit a triple off the Blue Monster in left field and then score on Perez' single to tie the game at 6-6. The Lions would then score three unearned runs, as both Higashi and Whitesell would score on Smith's single. Smith would then score on Oller's single for the 9-6 advantage.

Both teams will complete the series on Sunday at 1 p.m.

- GO LIONS -