SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The LMU baseball team fell to UCSB 7-4 on Tuesday night in Santa Barbara, Calif. Â
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The Lions fell behind in the first inning behind a couple of uncharacteristic unearned runs before storming back in the third. Â
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Cole Roberts and Benny Casillas were once again the catalysts in getting the Lions on the board. Both reached on singles before
Khadim Diaw doubled in Roberts. Casillas would come into score on an RBI groundout by
Jared Thomas to knot things up.Â
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The Gauchos would retake the lead in the third and that lead would be extended in the fifth. Â
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LMU would get one run back in the sixth after Connor Blough led off the inning with a double down the right field line. Dylan Dennis would follow up with a single of his own and Blough would score when Devan Ornelas reached on a fielder's choice. Â
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It was the Lions once again chipping away in the seventh inning. Three straight walks to open the inning would load the bases. Dennis would ground into a double play to plate one, but the Gauchos got Ornelas to line out to end the inning and end the threat. Â
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Merrick Baldo got the rare start and allowed two unearned runs in the first inning before turning the ball over to
Seamus Barrett. Barrett would be tagged with the loss.Â
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The Lions used six pitchers to combine for the eight innings, allowing five runs on nine hits, seven walks, and they punched out five as a unit. Â
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LMU will travel to Malibu, Calif. For the penultimate West Coast Conference series of the season. Â
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The Lions hold a 1.5-game lead over San Diego and a 2-game lead over Santa Clara and Portland in the conference standings. Â