May 15, 2010

Box Score

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - LMU (21-25, 4-10) dropped the second game of a three-game West Coast Conference series, 12-5, to Pepperdine (19-26, 7-7) on Saturday at Page Stadium. The Lions committed four errors in the loss, dropping their fielding percentage to .961.

LMU managed 11 hits, including six doubles, but could only muster five runs in the loss. Sophomore Shon Roe went 3-for-4 with a run scored and a RBI, while freshman Matt Lowenstein and sophomore Alex Guthrie each collected a pair of doubles. Guthrie notched a pair of runs scored, while leadoff man Jonathan Johnson drove in two.

Sophomore John Lally got the start and took the loss, tossing four and a third innings and allowing three runs on three hits and five walks. The Lions as a pitching staff walked seven and hit four batters en route to surrendering the 12 runs. Freshman Aaron Griffin surrendered eight runs (six earned) in one inning of work before senior Xavier Esquivel allowed one final Pepperdine run in two innings on the hill. Junior Greg Meyers mopped-up in the bullpen for LMU, contributing a scoreless inning and two-thirds of relief.

Cole Cook dealt seven and two-thirds innings as the Wave starter, allowing five runs on 10 hits and striking out eight batters. The right-hander walked just one batter and utilized 121 pitches before giving way to Alex Najera. Najera tossed a scoreless inning and a third of relief to seal the Pepperdine victory.

Nate Johnson and Colin Rooney each went deep for Pepperdine, as Johnson finished 2-for-5 with a double, the round-tripper, a run scored and two RBI. Rooney was 2-for-3 with the homer, a double, three walks, a run scored and two RBI. Ryan Heroy also doubled in the game, finishing 1-for-4 with three RBI.

After Pepperdine stranded the bases loaded in the top of the first offensively, LMU got on the board with a pair of runs in the home-half of the frame. Roe collected a one-out single before a chopper over the first baseman off the bat of Ryan Hawthorne put runners at the corners. A wild pitch moved Hawthorne to second base before Lowenstein lined a fastball off the wall in left field for a RBI-double. Matt Koch and the Lions traded an out for a run on the ensuing play as Koch grounded a ball to shortstop to chase home Hawthorne and hand LMU a 2-0 early advantage.

Pepperdine cut the deficit to one run on one swing of the bat from Rooney in the third. The right-handed hitter belted a leadoff homer, his second of the year, over the wall in left field on a 3-1 pitch from Lally to run the score to 2-1. The Waves got right back to business in the fourth, scoring once more to knot the tally at two runs apiece. The damage could have been greater, but Pepperdine stranded the bases loaded for the second time in the game, running the total of runners left on to nine through four innings. After a pair of quick outs in the fourth, a Ryan Van Amburg single and two walks loaded the bases. Lally's accuracy did not improve from there, hitting Heroy with a 2-1 pitch to force in the game-tying run. Fortunately for the Lions, Lally did manage to get out of the inning without further damage done, inducing a ground ball to third to end the frame.

The Waves claimed their first lead of the game in the fifth inning, scoring three runs and benefitting from a pair of Lion errors to push the score to 5-2. Joe Sever drew a walk before a two-out pinch-hit RBI-double from Floyd Given put the Waves on top by a run. LMU should have escaped the inning on the ensuing play, but a throwing error from Roe at shortstop allowed a second run to score in the frame. A stolen base and a second Lion error in the inning, the fourth of the game and first charged to Jonathan Johnson, set the table for a Rooney RBI-double to left field to cap the scoring run.

The Lions reclaimed a bit of momentum in the home-half of the fifth, scoring once in the inning to cut the deficit to 5-3. Guthrie doubled to right centerfield before a pair of productive groundouts eventually brought him around to score.

Pepperdine blew the game open in the sixth, exploding for six runs on six hits in the inning to take an 11-3 lead. Johnson belted a two-run home run to highlight the frame, while Heroy connected on a two-RBI double over the head of Hawthorne in centerfield. LMU escaped further damage in the inning when Johnson successfully pulled the "hidden ball trick" for the second time this year to end the rally.

The Lions managed to plate two more runs in the seventh, benefitting from two more doubles in the inning. Guthrie's second two-bagger started the inning before Johnson split the gap in right centerfield for a RBI-double. Roe capped the scoring run with a chopper over the head of the third baseman, allowing Johnson to turn third and come in to score, pushing the tally to 11-5. Pepperdine answered right back in the eighth, scoring one run on a Humphries RBI-single to left centerfield to run the tally to its eventual final of 12-5.

The Lions and Waves will conclude the three-game series tomorrow at 1 p.m.