LOS ANGELES – Devan Ornelas lit the crowd up with a clutch, two-out grand slam as the Lions baseball team defeated Tarleton State in the opener of their three-game series 10-2 on Friday night at Page Stadium in Los Angeles.  

 

The Lions were treated to a phenomenal outing from Friday night starter Kenji Pallares. The CSUN transfer came out hot and kept the Texans at bay for six near-perfect innings. Through six, Pallares had 11 strikeouts, had allowed just a pair of singles and generally had no trouble. In the seventh, he was tagged for a pair of runs before being lifted for Zack Mack. Pallares's final line: 6.1 innings pitched, 12 strikeouts, two earned runs on four hits, and only one walk.  

 

Mack has become one of the go-to arms for head coach Donegal Fergus and was rewarded with the final eight outs of the game while earning the victory. The big right hander allowed only a single baserunner on a hit by pitch and struck out four in relief.  

 

Despite being down a run, the pressure was taken off Mack as soon as he notched those pair of outs to close the seventh inning. 

 

Robbie Ayers reached on a hit by pitch, he was hit three times in the contest. He advanced to second on a DJ Ghiorso single. Ayers was lucky to advance to third on a wild pitch as the Texans' catcher made a good block but could not locate the ball quickly with Ayers picking that up quickly and advancing. Ayers would score easily as two pitches later the ball went to the backstop on another wild pitch and he would advance easily.  

 

After Cam Hassert worked a walk and a successful double steal with Ghiorso taking third and Hassert taking second, Kolton Freeman walked to load the bases setting the stage for Ornelas's heroics. After taking a big cut for strike one, Ornelas got a hanging breaking ball and did not miss it. The crowd erupted as soon as contact was made as Ornelas admired it for a second before flipping the bat ten feet into the air and cruising around the bases. It was Ornelas's first homerun of the season and second career grand slam. The Lions started the inning down a run and by the time the inning ended, they were up four. 

 

The offense was not done scoring there.  

 

Nate Savoie led off the eighth with a hustle double. The freshman laced a ball right by the third baseman and was booking it out of the box. He made the turn at first and forced the left fielder to make an accurate throw to get him at second, but the throw was a little off line and Savoie dove into second with his first double of the season. After Ayers and Ghiorso were both hit by pitches, the bases were loaded once again. Hassert did his job and lifted a ball to right field for a sacrifice fly.  

 

That led to Beau Ankeney hitting with runners on first and third. The big right-hander was down in the count 1-2 when he got a fastball down and away and blasted it over the blue monster for his fifth homerun of the season. Ankeney got fully extended on the swing and the ball traveled majestically down the line before glancing off the net in left. Ankeney now has 25 RBI after his third inning RBI single and three-run shot in the eighth.  

 

Mack easily cruised through the ninth inning to collect the victory. 

 

The Lions will be back in action to face the Texans on Saturday, March 15 for country night at the ballpark. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. (PT) and the first 150 fans will receive LMU cowboy hats. First pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.