LAS VEGAS – The LMU baseball team erased an early five-run deficit to power past Portland 12-8 on Wednesday night in the opening round of the West Coast Conference Basaeball Tournament at Las Vegas Ballpark.
The Lions used five homeruns, timely pitching, and intense grit to move on to face top-seeded San Diego at 2:00 p.m. (PT).
The Pilots took the early lead, scoring five in the top of the third.
With two outs in the bottom half, leadoff hitter Cam Hassert stepped in and got the comeback bid started. Hassert blasted a no-doubt bomb to dead center field to get the Lions on the board.
After throwing up a zero in the top half of the fourth, the Lions added another in the bottom half to cut into the lead some more. Beau Ankeney launched the first pitch he saw down the left field line and well over the wall for his 19th homerun of the season. He has now homered five times in his last four games.
The Lions once again threw up a zero in the top of the fifth inning and went to work in the bottom half.
Joe Reid reached on an error and came around to score on a two-out single from Hassert. The stage was set for WCC Freshman of the Year
Nate Savoie and he delivered impressively. Savoie launched a ball to deep right-center field that easily cleared the wall and tied the game at five.
Portland put up three runs to retake the lead in the seventh inning.
The Lions responded by putting up seven of their own.
Reid, Kolton Freeman and Hassert were all hit in consecutive at bats. After getting a fly ball out, Ankeney stepped up and drove a single through the right side of the infield to easily plate a pair.
Robbie Ayers followed with a five pitch walk to load the bases.
Devan Ornelas hammered the first pitch he saw over the right field wall for his eight homerun and second grand slam of the season. With most of the fans still on their feet from the slam,
Zion Williams drove the first pitch he saw into the home bullpen for his fifth homer of the year.
The Lions got gritty pitching performances from three of the top arms on the team to get through all 27 outs.
Zack Mack got the start and breezed through a pair before running into some trouble in the third. He gave up five before turning the ball over to Jake Geis. Geis went for a season-long 4.1 innings and struck out seven Pilot batters. He gave up three runs before passing the baton to
Jonah Johnson to finish the game. Johnson got out of the jam in the top of the seventh and got the last seven outs to earn the victory.
The Lions will return to action to face the Toreros when double-elimination play begins on Thursday.
