The Loyola Marymount University Lions baseball team (3-6, 0-0 WCC) hosted the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos at Page Stadium on Tuesday night and had their bats come alive a little too late in the game and fell 7-2.
 
Entering the midweek matchup with the Gauchos head coach Nathan Choate turned to lefty Alex Burge (1-1) and he produced 3.0 innings of work giving up three runs on four hits while striking out three. Burge was the beneficiary of a few bad bounces which led to the Gauchos three runs during his outing which cut his night short.
 
The Lions found themselves down three runs in the top half of the fourth and beginning the frame was Mason Kokodynski but the freshman had trouble with his command and was relieved by Holden Christian after a pair of walks. With a couple of men on the game got out of reach for the Lions on a three-run homer giving the Gauchos a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
 
Making a strong statement for the Lions was freshman Merrick Baldo who shut down the Gauchos in his 4.0 innings on the bump. Baldo didn't allow a run and struck out two while only giving up one hit against 13 UCSB batters.
 
With the Lions trailing by seven the bats came to life in the home half of the sixth as Matt Voelker got on with a single and was followed by Trevin Esquerra's single and Cooper Uhl loading the bases after getting hit by a pitch. LMU's inning could've been more damaging but a diving catch on a Dylan Dennis liner to left brought in only one run. The Lions put another run across on a Gaucho error but the rally stalled when Alex Lambeau grounded out to second. 
 
The Lions put a pair of runners on in the ninth to make it interesting but a hard liner from Cole Roberts went straight into the left fielder's glove and ended the night and rally for LMU.
 
LMU now heads to Davis, California for a three-game set against the UC Davis Aggies this weekend. The set will mark the second of five-straight weekend road series for the Lions. First pitch between the Aggies and Lions is set for 2:00 p.m. on Friday.