March 19, 2010

Box Score

FRESNO, Calif. - LMU (6-10) scored seven runs in the eighth inning en route to earning a 12-5 victory over Fresno State (9-8) in game one of a four-game series being played in Fresno, Calif. over the weekend. With the win, LMU has now won five straight games over the Bulldogs.

The Lions led throughout the game, as LMU scored runs in each of the first four frames, including a pair in the second. Jonathan Johnson led the Lion offense on Friday with a 4-for-5 night with two runs scored, a double and two RBI. Alex Guthrie finished 3-for-4 with a double, a run scored and three RBI. Matt Koch went 2-for-3 with his team-high tying fourth home run of the season, his team-best ninth double of the year, two runs scored and a RBI. In all, LMU collected five doubles on the night. With two hits apiece, Koch, Ryan Hawthorne and Shon Roe extended their respective hitting streaks to five, five and four games.

Pitching in his hometown of Fresno, Calif., sophomore Martin Viramontes tossed six and a third innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on nine hits and two walks while striking out two to earn his first victory of the season. Jordan McClintick surrendered a hit to the only batter he faced in the game before freshman Matt Florer tossed two and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs on three hits and striking out two batters to earn his first collegiate save.

Matt Morse took the loss for Fresno State after tossing four and a third innings and allowing five runs (three earned) on 11 hits and three walks as the Bulldog starter. Danny Muno finished 3-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored out of the leadoff spot to lead the offense. Garrett Weber hit his first home run of the season in the ninth inning en route to finishing 3-for-5.

LMU got on the board in the first inning when Johnson reached with a leadoff single. Running on a 3-2 pitch, Johnson reached third when catcher Trent Garrison threw high to second base on ball four, leaving runners at the corners. Hawthorne followed by hitting into a double play, but LMU scored a run on the play.

The Lions extended the lead to 3-0 after two innings on a Guthrie two-RBI double. Both teams scored in the third, as LMU posted a run on Koch's home run, before Fresno State scored on a Muno RBI-single and a passed ball charged to Koch.

The Lions made it four straight innings with at least one run scored as a Brad Bauer double and a Johnson single resulted in a run in the fourth. After playing scoreless from there into the seventh, Fresno State scored a run on Muno's second infield single in the home-half of the inning. Florer stopped further damage in the inning when he induced an inning-ending double play with one out and the bases loaded.

The Lions exploded for seven runs in the eighth inning to blow the game open. The frame was highlighted by a two-RBI single from Barmasse and a two-RBI pinch-hit single from Nick Truhan. For Truhan, the hit was his first of his collegiate career. Roe, Johnson and Guthrie also pitched-in RBI-singles in the lopsided inning.

Fresno State managed to put a run on the board in each of the final two frames, including back-to-back doubles from Brennan Gowens and Jordan Ribera to score once in the eighth, and Weber's solo-homer in the ninth.

The two teams continue the four-game series tomorrow with a doubleheader starting at 2:05 p.m.