Box Score

The LMU baseball team (12-9, 3-1 WCC) took the first game of a three-game series being played at Pepperdine's Eddy D. Field Stadium on Friday by a score of 6-4. The Lions received a quality start from senior Colin Welmon, and capitalized on a costly error charged to Pepperdine's second baseman, Hutton Moyer, in a three-run seventh inning. The series is being played as part of the Wells Fargo PCH Cup, which pits LMU against Pepperdine in all athletic competition throughout the year.

Welmon tossed six innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and one walk while striking out three to improve to 3-3 on the year. The right-hander allowed leadoff singles in five of his six innings of work, but induced a pair of double play balls to escape the bulk of the jams.

LMU used a pair of relievers, including sophomore J.D. Busfield who went the final two frames to record his seventh save in as many chances this year. Busfield entered with a man on in the eighth, allowing the inherited runner to score, but struck out the side in order in the ninth to seal the victory.

Three Lions collected two hits in the victory, including David Fletcher and Jimmy Jack who each posted a double and a run scored. Senior David Edwards also managed a multi-hit game at 2-for-4. Freshman Billy Wilson made the most of his one hit on Friday afternoon, delivering a two-out two-RBI double to erase a 1-0 deficit and hand LMU a one-run lead in the fourth.

Junior Jackson McClelland got the start for Pepperdine, lasting six innings and allowing six runs (three earned) on seven hits and five walks while striking out six. The loss dropped McClelland to 3-2 on the season.

Pepperdine got on the board first with a run in the second as back-to-back singles from Brandon Caruso and Jordan Qsar put two on with nobody out. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners up 90 feet before Manny Jefferson delivered an RBI-groundout to plate the run and make it 1-0 Waves.

After Wilson put the Lions on top with the two-RBI double in the fourth, Pepperdine drew back even at two on a solo homer from Jefferson in the fifth. The round-tripper was Jefferson's fourth of the year.

The two teams traded a run in the sixth, leaving the score knotted at three after six innings. The Lions scored an untraditional run in the top of the frame as Jack doubled and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. After LMU elected to pinch run for Jack with Marcus Still, McClelland balked and forced in the go-ahead run. Pepperdine played it more traditionally, as Moyer led off the bottom of the inning with a single before a sacrifice bunt and an RBI-single from Caruso delivered the tying run. Caruso finished the game 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.

It didn't take LMU long to reclaim the lead, as the Lions plated three runs on two hits and an error in the seventh to post a lead it would not relinquish. A single from Austin Miller got the inning started before Fletcher drew a walk. With Tanner Donnels at the plate, LMU elected to sacrifice bunt, but the throw to first was dropped by Moyer, allowing Miller to score and Fletcher to take third. A walk to Edwards loaded the bases and spelled the end of the day for McClelland. Reliever Chandler Blanchard entered and induced a double play ball off the bat of Sean Watkins that came at the expense of a run, as LMU went ahead 5-3. Pinch hitter Jamey Smart capped the scoring run on the ensuing play, shooting an RBI-single to first base to bring home Donnels and LMU's sixth run of the game. Smart is now 5-for-11 as a pinch hitter this season.

The Waves did manage to plate a fourth run in the eighth inning on a sacrifice fly from Qsar, but Busfield ensured that the late push would end with just the one run scored.

LMU will continue the three-game series with Pepperdine tomorrow at 1 p.m.