The Loyola Marymount Lions (28-20, 14-10 WCC) battled all afternoon against California State University Bakersfield in the second contest of their two-game season series and found a way to rally past and ultimately pull out a 15-9 victory over the Roadrunners.
 
Getting the start for head coach Jason Gill's team was Alexander Burge and he was one of six Lions to take the mound against the Roadrunners. Burge, Mark Finkelnburg, Nathan Critchett, Kyle Mora, Holden Christian and Matt Voelker were all called upon in the contest against CSU Bakersfield. 
 
The Lions found themselves trailing by two early in the game but sprinted past Bakersfield with a combination of runs, scoring one in the top of the second and three in the visiting half of the third. LMU benefitted from an error on the Roadrunner's Evan Berkey in the top of the second allowing Alex Lambeau to score from second.
 
For LMU the third inning started off with a Cooper Uhl single to left center and after recording their first out, Kenny Oyama singled through the left side putting two Lions on base. With two men on and two outs in the inning Trevin Esquerra hit a ground rule double plating Uhl and was quickly followed by Steven Chavez's single to center bringing home both Oyama and Esquerra for the three runs in the inning. 
 
The Lions tacked on another run in the visiting half of the fourth when Oyama singled to left center sending home Ethan Patrick who earlier got on base when he doubled down the right field line. 
 
LMU ran into trouble in the home half of the fourth after having difficulty with their command on the mound. The Lions relinquished their two-run lead with only allowing a hit in the inning. The Roadrunners benefitted from four walks and two hit batsmen and scored four runs in the frame to take a 7-5 lead.
 
The Lions entered the top half of the eighth inning trailing 9-6 but put together a two out rally to pull ahead 10-9. Sandwiched in between LMU's first couple of outs was a single by Nick Sogard setting the table for Brandon Shearer's double down the left field line for the first run of the inning. Next up was Esquerra and he was intentionally walked and then pitch ran for by Ryan Ruley. With two men on Chavez was hit by a pitch, loading the bases for pinch hitter Ryan Kawano. The junior was patient at the plate as Bakersfield's Kenny Johnson threw a wild pitch plating Shearer from third. With another run already in Kawano sent a single to left field driving in both Ruley and Chavez capping the four-run inning for the Lions. 
 
The Lions added to their lead by bringing in five more runs in the top of the ninth to pull away from the Roadrunners ultimately winning the game 15-9. LMU's victory saw them set new season-highs in runs with 15 and hits with 18.
 
The Lions now focus on the University of Southern California as they host the Trojans on Tuesday night with first pitch slated for 6:00 p.m.