April 23, 2011

Box Score

MALIBU, Calif. - LMU (21-17, 5-4) surrendered four unearned runs in the first inning and three more runs in the bottom of the eighth en route to dropping a 7-2 decision to Pepperdine (18-20, 4-5) on Saturday at Pepperdine's Eddy D Field Stadium. With the victory, Pepperdine earned its fifth straight series win over the Lions.

Junior Shon Roe finished 3-for-4 with a run scored to lead LMU's offense. Aaron Griffin got the start and lasted four innings, surrendering four unearned runs on five hits and two walks. With the loss, he fell to 5-3. Matt Florer contributed one scoreless inning of relief before Chris Eusebio dealt an inning and a third scoreless. Ryan Hawthorne walked one over an inning, and after Martin Viramontes took over and issues a walk of his own, the run came around to score on a three-run home run off the bat of Joe Sever.

Right-hander Scott Frazier earned the victory after tossing six innings and allowing an unearned run on five hits. With the win, Frazier improved to 2-1. Including the home run, Sever went 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and three RBI.

In what can only be called an interesting inning, LMU finished the first trailing 4-0 and without a head coach. Jonathan Johnson seemingly homered off the right field wall with one out, but apparently missed first base and was called out on an appeal by home plate umpire Todd Ellis. After a lengthy argument from third-year Head Coach Jason Gill, the inning continued and the Lions were unable to muster any further offense.

After Harrison Kain reached on an error charged to Roe at shortstop to start the bottom of the first, Miles Silverstein sacrificed the runner to second. Brian Humphries followed by hitting a ball down the first base line that was called fair by Ellis behind the plate, but was by all accounts foul. After the ball rolled into the corner for a RBI-double, scoring the first run of the frame, Gill came rushing out of the Lion dugout to argue for the second time in approximately five minutes. After another lengthy and heated argument, Gill was ejected by Ellis. Following the ejection, a fly ball and a balk left a runner at third with two out before a walk put runners at the corners. Three straight Pepperdine RBI-singles pushed the final three unearned runs across, leaving the Waves with an early 4-0 lead.

LMU managed to plate its first official run in the fourth, executing a hit-and-run to perfection in the frame. Roe reached with a one-out single before Joe Vierra laced a single into right field on a hit-and-run in a 3-1 count to push runners to the corners. Pepperdine nearly escaped the jam in the next at bat as Alex Guthrie lined out to third base. Silverstein made the play and tried to back-pick Vierra at first base, but his throw sailed wide of the bag and down the right field line, allowing Roe to scamper home with the unearned run to cut the deficit to 4-1.

The Lions scratched back to within two at 4-2 with a run in the seventh. A one-out walk to Evan Simonitsch set the table for a hit-and-run single from Bret Dahlson to put runners at the corners with one out. Matt Lowenstein delivered the RBI on the ensuing play, dribbling a ball to shortstop for a productive out.

Pepperdine delivered the knock-out punch in the bottom of the eighth as a pair of walks and a three-run home run from Joe Sever sealed the Wave victory. Jon Moscot finished off his stellar three innings on the hill for Pepperdine in the top of the ninth, retiring the side in order to earn his first save of the year.

The Lions will return to action on Friday when they travel to San Francisco to open a crucial three-game series with the first-place Dons at 3 p.m.