May 2, 2010

Box Score | Photo Gallery

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Sophomore Martin Viramontes carried a no-hitter through two out in the ninth inning on Sunday before Saint Mary's (15-22-1, 6-6) collected a pair of hits. The Lions (19-22, 3-9) provided plenty of offense in the game, scoring 10 runs on 10 hits en route to the 10-0 victory.

The two-hitter was the first for the Lion since Daniel Macias tossed a two-hitter against Gonzaga on April 30, 2006. The complete game was the second of the year for LMU, as freshman Aaron Griffin tossed nine against Cal State Fullerton on March 23. Viramontes' complete-game shutout was the first dealt by a Lion since Lee Roberts shutout Santa Clara in a complete-game effort on March 27, 2009. Sunday's shutout victory was the second of the year for LMU, as the Lions blanked Oklahoma State on March 7 to win the 2010 Dairy Queen Classic.

Viramontes went all nine innings, allowing just the two hits and two walks while striking out nine batters. He threw 132 pitches en route to the complete-game two-hit shutout. The right-hander retired 15 straight from the fourth inning through the first Gael hit, collected by Ryan Mulligan, with two-out in the ninth. With the win, the native of Fresno, Calif. improved to 3-4 on the year.

Although overshadowed by the stellar pitching effort, Matt Lowenstein went a perfect 3-for-3 with a double, two walks, three runs scored and three RBI. Jonathan Johnson, Jason Barmasse and Colton Plaia each collected a pair of hits for LMU, including a double and two RBI for Plaia.

Martin Agosta got the start for Saint Mary's and took the loss after pitching four and two-thirds innings and allowing seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and three walks. Mulligan and Troy Channing were the lone Gael players with hits, while Channing drew both of the Viramontes walks.

LMU got on the board first in the second inning, plating a run on a RBI-double from Plaia. Lowenstein won an eight-pitch at bat and worked a leadoff walk before moving to second on a sacrifice bunt from Jason Barmasse. Plaia cashed-in on the RBI-opportunity on the ensuing play, belting a double to left centerfield to chase home Lowenstein.

The Lions scored four times on one swing of the bat from Lowenstein in the third inning, as the freshman doubled off the wall in left field with the bases loaded and two out. Lowenstein took third on the relay home, and when the ball got away from Mulligan behind the plate via an errant throw from shortstop Mikey Reynolds, Lowenstein scampered home with a head-first slide. LMU was literally handed the bases-load opportunity as Agosta walked two and hit a batter all with two out to set the table for Lowenstein.

LMU extended the lead to 7-0 after five innings, scoring twice more in the fifth. Evan Simonitsch started the inning with a double off the wall before a Johnson single put runners at the corners. Shon Roe contributed the sacrifice fly to centerfield to plate Simonitsch, before back-to-back singles from Lowenstein and Barmasse resulted in the second Lion run and chased Agosta.

Johnson came up with a clutch two-out RBI-single through the left side of the infield in the sixth to run the tally to 8-0 in favor of LMU. Matt Koch drew a leadoff walk before moving to second on a one-out groundout to the right side. After working the count full at 3-2, Johnson slapped a base hit passed Patrick Wisdom at third base to score the run.

Viramontes carried a no-hitter through two out in the ninth inning before Mulligan singled sharply to right field to break-up the no-hit bid. Channing followed with a single of his own before Viramontes struck out pinch-hitter Cole Norton to end the game and seal the two-hit shutout.

The Lions will take finals week off from competition before hosting Cal Poly on May 11 at 3:00 p.m.