Box Score May 13, 2017 Box Score
Junior Cory Abbott continued his unbelievable season on Saturday night at Gonzaga, tossing his second shutout of the year after allowing just five hits with 12 strikeouts to guide LMU (33-15, 17-6 WCC) to a 4-0 victory over the Bulldogs (27-17, 16-7 WCC) from the Patterson Baseball Complex.
Abbott, who moved to 11-1 with the win, lowered his ERA in WCC play to an unfathomable 0.15 mark â€" one earned run over 60 innings of work. The right-hander now sports a 1.60 ERA for the season, and has allowed just one earned run over his last 62.1 innings overall.
Offensively, LMU plated one run in the sixth and three in the ninth to support Abbott. Brandon Shearer delivered what proved to be the game-winner in the sixth, shooting a double inside the bag at first to bring home Jamey Smart. Shearer finished the game 2-for-5 with the RBI, while Smart was 3-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI.
The run in the sixth came against Gonzaga starter Justin Vernia, who was outdueled by Abbott in a great pitching matchup. The right-hander allowed just the one run on seven hits with five strikeouts, ultimately falling to 5-3 with the decision.
The Lions plated the final three runs off of reliever Sam Hellinger, stringing together five straight hits in the ninth inning, including an RBI-single from Spencer Erdman, and a two-RBI hit from Smart, to run the advantage to 4-0 headed to the bottom of the ninth. The single from Erdman stretched his hit streak to 16 games.
Aiming for the shutout, Abbott walked the first man he faced in the ninth. After striking out Jeff Bohling for the first out, he then walked Nick Nyquist. Following another strikeout, this time getting Jace VanDeBrake, Abbott walked Jake Roberts to load the bases with two out. Ninth-year head coach Jason Gill stuck with his starter despite the tying run coming to the plate, and Abbott induced a game-ending ground ball from pinch-hitter Nick Brooks to end the contest.
LMU, which recorded its fifth shutout on Saturday, will look to win the series on Sunday when it sends right-hander Blake Redman to the mound at 3 p.m. in the series finale.
