LONG BEACH, Calif., -- The Loyola Marymount softball team split during its first day at the Long Beach State Tournament, as they swept UC Riverside and fell to Boise State after a 10-inning thriller. The Lions 5-1 start is tied with the program's best start all-time. 

"Overall, I was pleased with our team's resilience today," said head coach Sami strinz-Ward. "We try to create a practice environment where we prepare for the unexpected and be comfortable being uncomfortable. We saw that in experiencing an hour delay after we were fully warmed and ready to go for the first game and we still did what we needed to do to come out on the winning side. "
The Lions picked up their fifth consecutive win Saturday morning after sweeping UC Riverside 2-0. Hannah Bandimere pitched a complete seven-inning shut-out, only allowing four hits, picking up her third win of the season and maintaining a 0 earned run average. 
 
The Lions scored both of their runs in the third inning. Irma Sanchez had an RBI, bringing Megan Dedrick in for the run. Delanie Wisz also had an RBI after Hailey Jackson got a run. 
 
The Lions had a total of five hits, compared to UCR's four. Andrea Gonzalez went 1-1, while Wisz went 1-2 and Dedrick went 1-2. Sanchez and Riley Ehlen went 1-3. 
 
Up 5-0 on the season, LMU went into their second game of the day against Boise State, where the team battled it out to 10 innings, but fell 9-8. 
 
The Lions went scoreless the first five innings, but gained momentum in the sixth when Ehlen got an RBI after Wisz scored. 
 
The Lions went into the seventh inning and tied things up after a homerun from Maddison Flores while Wisz and Jackson were on base, giving the Lions three more runs to tie it up with the Broncos, and giving Flored 3 RBIs. 
 
Forced to extra innings, the Lions scored two more runs, as Molly Grumbo scored on a wild pitch and Dedrick hit a double, resulting in a run from Kaley Robinson. 
 
Boise State responded and scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth. Both teams went scoreless in the ninth inning. 
 
Ehlen got her third RBI of the game after she hit a homerun while Grumbo was on base. The Lions left the top of the 10^thwith eight runs, but it wasn't enough, as the Broncos finished the 10^thinnings with three runs, giving them the win. 
 
Flores, Ehlen and Dedrick went 2-4. The Lions ended with 10 hits, compared to Boise State's nine. 
 
Hannah Bandimere and Linnay Wilson only had one earned run, while Samantha Manti had three. 

"Hannah competed really well in the circle and gutted out the win for us. The second game was a tough battle to come on the short end of. Our inexperience showed a few times but those were tremendous learning moments for us. I'm really proud of the fight we showed in that 10 inning game. Our team is young but full of heart. I'm eager to see us bounce back tomorrow," said Strinz-Ward. 
 
The Lions will be back on the field tomorrow to take on Cal Poly at 9:00 a.m. and UCLA at 4:30 p.m. at the UCLA Tournament.