STILLWATER, Okla. - The LMU baseball team split a doubleheader with No. 15 Oklahoma State on Saturday at O'Brate Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma. 

GAME ONE

 

The Lions struggled to gain some momentum in the first game, falling 1-0.  

 

LMU got a phenomenal start out of graduate left-hander Diego Barrera. Barrera went 6.2 innings, allowing only a single run on a two-out home run in the bottom of the seventh inning. He struck out eight and walked none.  

 

Seamus Barrett relieved him in the seventh inning and got through the final 1.1 innings unscathed. 

 

The Lions managed four baserunners in the opening game but could not get into the hit column. Jared Thomas walked twice, Connor Blough walked once, and Sam Biller was hit by a pitch.

GAME TWO 

 

The Lions bats woke up in the nightcap. 

 

After falling behind in the first inning 2-0, Khadim Diaw demolished a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall to cut the lead in half.  

 

The Pokes got a pair back in the bottom half of the second inning and the Lions matched them step for step in the top of the third. 

 

Blough reached on an infield single to shortstop before moving to second on a Biller walk. Both runners would advance another base when Benny Casillas walked on four pitches. Thomas would record his third walk of the day and notch an RBI, allowing each runner to advance another base. Diaw would hit a hard ground ball to third base that looked at first like a double play. After a short review, the umpires confirmed that Diaw beat the throw to first, allowing Biller to score.  

 

The back and forth would continue with the Cowboys putting up two more in the bottom of the third inning.  

 

The Lions would continue to match. Dylan Dennis dropped a single into centerfield, setting the stage for senior second baseman Cole Roberts. Roberts hammered a 1-0 pitch off the left field foul pole to bring the Lions back within a run. 

 

The game would remain a one-run game until the bottom of the seventh when the Cowboys scratched across a pair.  

 

The Lions would put together another comeback inning in the top of the eighth.  

 

Dennis singled to center field to open the inning up. Blough and Biller followed up with full count walks. Brett Zimmerman came off the bench to hit for Casillas and lined a 3-2 pitch past the shortstop for an RBI single. Thomas followed up with another single up the middle to score a pair and the game was tied.  

The teams would play a scoreless ninth before Biller blasted a 1-0 pitch over the right field stands to score a pair and mark the final tally. 

 

Zach Kirby got the start on the mound in the nightcap, allowing six runs (three earned), while striking out three and walking one.  

 

Ryan Mullan relieved him in the fourth, going 1.1 scoreless before turning the ball over to Logan Hurd to finish the fifth. Cole Chimenti followed up with a scoreless sixth.  

 

Jimmy Galicia came on in the seventh and allowed a pair of runs via inherited runners. David Watson got an out before turning the ball over to Merrick Baldo in the eighth.  

 

Baldo was lights out, retiring 9 of 11 batters he faced. He struck out four and earned the win, his second of the week. 

 

Baldo has two wins and a save in the early going. With six innings under his belt, Baldo has struck out nine and walked only one. He has not allowed a hit to this point in the season. 

 

The Lions close out the series with the Cowboys on Sunday, February 26 in Stillwater, Okla. before returning home to face UCLA on Tuesday in Westwood.