LOS ANGELES — Jaxson Wall launched a solo home run to tie the game up in the fifth inning, and the Lions rode a three-run sixth to hold off Washington 7-6 in a back-and-forth Sunday afternoon affair at Page Stadium.
The Lions (3-4) and Huskies (1-6) traded blows throughout a three-hour, 10-minute contest that saw the lead change hands multiple times before LMU's decisive sixth-inning rally proved to be the difference.
Wall, a graduate utility player batting ninth in the order, was the offensive catalyst for the home side. He finished 2-for-3 with a double, a home run, an RBI and a sacrifice bunt, a quietly efficient outing that set the table for a Lions comeback. His solo shot to left field to open the bottom of the fifth knotted the score at 3-all, and
Travis Friend followed with an RBI single to give LMU a 4-3 edge heading to the sixth.
Washington was quick to answer. Braeden Terry's RBI single and Sam DeCarlo's RBI single to right field capped a two-run sixth that sent the Huskies back in front, 5-4. But LMU would not be denied in the bottom half of the inning.
Zion Williams delivered an RBI single to tie it, and DJ Ghiorso followed with a two-run single to right that put the Lions up 7-5, the margin they would need, as Washington kept pressing.
The Huskies clawed back with an unearned run in the eighth when a fielding error by second baseman Andrew Mhoon allowed Blake Wilson to score, cutting the deficit to 7-6. But LMU's bullpen slammed the door, stranding a runner in the ninth to secure the series finale.
Washington drew first blood in the third when a fielder's choice off the bat of Ty Cowan plated a run, but LMU answered in the fourth on a Zach Wadas RBI double and a Cooper Whitton RBI single to grab a 2-1 edge. The Huskies then retook control in the fifth on a two-run blast to right-center by Daniel Porras, the freshman's second home run of the series, before Wall's answering shot tied the game moments later.
Avery Laine turned in a serviceable start for LMU, going five innings and allowing three hits and three earned runs while walking four and striking out three. He kept the Lions in the game through four innings before running into trouble in the fifth when Porras sent a ball over the wall.
Niko Riera stepped out of the bullpen to begin the sixth and was solid if not flawless over the final four frames, finishing with four strikeouts, two walks and five hits allowed. Two of Washington's late runs came via error and wild pitches rather than clean baserunning, and Riera managed each time to prevent further damage before working around a walk in the ninth to earn the win and improve to 1-0.
Ghiorso went 2-for-4 with a double and drove in two, while Whitton reached base multiple times via hit by pitch and contributed an RBI single, his first hit as a Lion. Friend added the clutch single and was hit by a pitch to reach base twice.
