Senior righthander Codie Paiva pitched a complete game gem on Thursday afternoon becoming only the third pitcher in West Coast Conference baseball tournament history to strike out ten or more hitters en route to the Lions 4-1 victory over BYU.
 
Paiva scattered five hits, walking one and surrendered just one run while striking out 11 batters for his second-straight complete game in less than a week.
 
The Lions got on the board in the top half of the fourth courtesy of junior Trevin Esquerra's bat. He sent a 1-0 Jordan Wood offering clear over the right field wall putting the Lions in front by two. 
 
LMU went quietly in the fifth and sixth innings but was able to plate a couple more runs in the visiting half of the seventh.
 
Starting off the seventh Dylan Hirsch singled to center field and was sacrificed over to second by WCC sac bunt leader Cooper Uhl. With a runner in scoring position Nick Sogard sent a pitch back to right center for the RBI single pushing the Lions lead to three. 
 
Sogard, the conference leader in stolen bases, prompted a failed pickoff attempt and moved over to second. With Sogard in scoring position Brandon Shearer singled through the right side bringing him home and gave the Lions a four-run lead that they never relinquished.
 
The story of the game however was Paiva who came back out in the ninth inning and gave up a run courtesy of a single and double to the Cougars but was able to get the final out off of Austin Deming's bat securing the 4-1 victory for LMU.
 
Paiva's 11 strikeouts in a WCC conference tournament game is the second most behind Gonzaga's Brandon Bailey who fanned 17 batters in 2016.
 
The Lions are now scheduled to play tomorrow afternoon at 3:30 p.m., against the winner of Gonzaga and Saint Mary's.