The Loyola Marymount Lions (17-10, 7-2 WCC) went back and forth with Portland on Sunday but ultimately couldn't overcome a two-run Pilot sixth inning and fell 5-3 marking only their second loss in West Coast Conference play. 
 
Sophomore Nick Frasso got the starting nod from head coach Jason Gill and he gave the Lions 3.0 innings of work, surrendering one hit, one run and two walks while striking out six Pilot batters. He was relieved by redshirt sophomore Sean Paquet who produced 2.0 innings of three hit baseball, giving up one run, one walk while striking out four. 
 
Getting the Lions started was Trevin Esquerra who in the visiting half of the fourth blistered a 2-0 Chris Clements pitch over the right field wall giving LMU a 2-1 lead. The Lions followed that up in the top of the fifth when Dylan Hirsch sent his first double of the season down the right field line. He eventually reached home on the throwing error by Portland's Hunter Montgomery on the Tommy Oyama sacrifice bunt giving LMU their third run of the game.
 
The Lions ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth after redshirt junior Mark Finkelnburg got the first two Pilot hitters out, he surrendered back-to-back home runs pushing Portland ahead 4-3. LMU allowed another run in the bottom of the seventh after Daniel Lopez sent a CJ Fernandezees pitch down the right field line bringing in Chad Stevens for the Pilots fifth run of the game.
 
The Lions went hitless against Portland's Chris Clements in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings but put a rally together in the ninth off the Pilots Connor Knutson but with two men on LMU's Ethan Patrick hit a rocket to the second basemen that produced the game ending double play cementing the setback for LMU.    
 
The Lions head home for a mid-week game against Cal State University Bakersfield on Tuesday, April 2^ndbefore going back out on the road when they take on the University of San Francisco for a three-game weekend series.