LOS ANGELES — Richie Klosek stepped to the plate Tuesday night at Page Stadium with the bases loaded and LMU trailing by two and delivered the biggest swing of his young collegiate career. The freshman designated hitter crushed a grand slam to left-center field, turning a deficit into a commanding lead and propelling Loyola Marymount to a 7-2 victory over California Baptist at Page Stadium.
California Baptist (14-4) staked itself to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second. Cole Hansen deposited a solo home run to left field, then Diesel Toth lashed a triple to center. Riley Hunsaker singled home Toth to make it 2-0, and it looked like the Lancers had the early edge.
LMU answered in the bottom half in relentless fashion. Friend drew a one-out walk, Mhoon singled to right-center to push Friend to third, and Noah Malone coaxed another free pass to load the bases. Jordan Ortiz then worked a walk to force home Friend and cut the deficit to 2-1. Then Klosek, batting ninth, turned on a 3-2 offering from Ryne Palmer and launched it into the night, a grand slam that sent Ortiz, Malone and Mhoon all home and flipped the scoreboard to 5-2 in the blink of an eye. Palmer was done, having retired just four batters.
The homerun was the first of Klosek's collegiate career.
The Lions (6-13) added insurance in the seventh on a pair of wild pitches.
Jaxson Wall, who had been a handful from the leadoff spot all night, tripled to right-center to open the inning.
Zach Wadas drew a walk, and both runners eventually scored on wild pitches pushing the final margin to 7-2.
While the offense got the headlines, LMU's defense provided some of the night's more memorable moments. DJ Ghiorso was sharp all evening at third base, ranging to his left in the first inning to snare a liner, and then showcasing elite instincts in the top of the seventh on a slow roller in and to his left. Ghiorso barehanded the ball in one fluid motion and fired to first in time to nab the runner on a close play.
Jordan Ortiz also made a nice defensive play behind the plate to eliminate some danger from the basepaths. After a leadoff double in the top of the fifth, Ortiz took advantage of his strong arm and backpicked the runner at second with a dart to a streaking Wall who slapped the tag on. After a quick review, the call at second of out was confirmed.
On the mound, Alec Johnson gave LMU four innings to start, allowing two runs on five hits with three strikeouts. Zach DenDekker followed Johnson with dominant relief, earning his first win of the season by shutting out CBU over four innings with five strikeouts, two walks and zero earned runs allowed. DenDekker lowered his season ERA to 2.70 in 13.1 innings of work.
Jake Geis polished off the ninth with a clean 1-2-3 frame.
The Lions will travel to Abilene, Tex. For a weekend series against Abilene Christian. The series will begin on Friday, March 13 with first pitch slated for 4:05 p.m. (PT).
