LOS ANGELES, CA – The Loyola Marymount University Lions (0-3-1, 0-0 WCC) went toe-to-toe with the No. 20 UC Santa Barbara Gauchos for most of the night but runs in the visiting half of the eighth and ninth proved to be the difference in an 18-7 setback on Tuesday evening.
 
The Lions found themselves trailing by a run after the first half inning but quickly took the lead back on a Devan Ornelas double to right center for LMU's first score of the night followed by Ornelas scoring on a wild pitch by the Gauchos starter JD Callahan. 
 
LMU relinquished the lead in the third but fought back to pull within two runs in the bottom of fourth off the bat of Diego Baqueiro. Baqueiro doubled to left, the first of his two hits, bringing in a pair making the game at that point 7-5. 
 
Heading into the home half of the sixth the Lions were down by three and pushed two runs across off a sacrifice fly from Benny Casillas and a single from Brett Zimmerman. 
 
The score remained the same after seven complete innings but late runs scored in the eighth and the ninth by the Gauchos proved to be too much for the Lions to overcome.
 
LMU continues their season long 11-game home stand with a three-game weekend series against the Creighton University Bluejays with first pitch set for 6:00 p.m. on Friday, February 25^th.