LOS ANGELES — UC Santa Barbara scored twice in the 11th inning Tuesday to hand LMU a 5-3 defeat in extra innings at Page Stadium, capping a stretch of five consecutive days of games.
The Gauchos improved to 5-2 while LMU dropped to 3-6.
LMU jumped out first, taking a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning. DJ Ghiorso worked a walk, Zach Wadas reached on a fielder's choice and an error, and the two executed a double steal to put Ghiorso at third. Richie Klosek's walk loaded the bases, and Ghiorso scored on a wild pitch to give the Lions the early advantage.
Sophomore left-hander Alec Johnson was sharp in his second start of the season. He kept UC Santa Barbara off the board through four innings before allowing an unearned run in the fifth, the result of a Richie Klosek error that let Vasseur reach second before Jack Haferkamp's RBI single tied the game at 1-1. Johnson did not issue a walk in five innings, struck out six and threw 70 pitches (48 strikes). He exited with a 1.00 ERA on the night, all damage against him unearned. His season ERA remains at 3.24.
Adam Behrens took over in the sixth and stranded a leadoff double, keeping the game tied. Jake Geis worked a scoreless seventh, and Matt Moreno worked a strenuous, yet scoreless eighth in his 2026 debut.
The Lions reclaimed the lead in the bottom half of the eighth. Jaxson Wall singled through the left side, advanced to third on a throwing error by the UCSB pitcher on a pickoff attempt and scored when
Alex Gamboa singled to left-center. LMU led 2-1.
UC Santa Barbara answered in the ninth on a leadoff solo home run to right field by Noah Karliner off
Jonah Johnson, tying the game at 2-2.
With one run in the top of the 10th, the Gauchos went back in front 3-2 on a Jonathan Mendez sacrifice fly. But again, LMU answered, as
Zion Williams singled through the right side to score
Travis Friend and tie the game at 3-3. Williams stole second and Ghiorso drew an intentional walk to load the bases with two outs, but Wadas flied out to end the inning.
The Gauchos broke through for two in the 11th. With a runner on second to start the inning, an error on a bunt play by freshman reliever
Matt Champion scored one run, and Kosciusko added a sacrifice fly to make it 5-3. LMU went down in order in the bottom half, stranding a runner at second.
Wall finished 1 for 4 with a run scored and continues to lead the team with a .412 batting average. Ghiorso drew two walks, including the intentional pass in the 10th, and is now 5 for 6 in stolen base attempts this season. Williams drove in LMU's final run and is slugging .528 on the year.
The Lions will travel to Winston-Salem, North Carolina this weekend for four games in three days as they continue their start to the season. The Lions will face Wake Forest and Davidson twice each over the weekend before returning home to face Utah on Monday.
