WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Avery Laine turned in the strongest start of his young season and Alex Gamboa drove in five runs as LMU routed Davidson 11-1 Sunday morning at David F. Couch Ballpark, improving to 5-8 on the year.
Laine worked six innings, allowing one earned run on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. He induced two double plays and navigated multiple Davidson threats efficiently, throwing 88 pitches, 55 for strikes. The senior lowered his season ERA to 4.50 across 16.0 innings. Davidson's lone run came in the fifth inning when Jamie Daly singled home Theo Loughlin with two outs, the only blemish on an otherwise commanding afternoon for Laine.
LMU wasted no time against Davidson starter Jacob Vokal. Jaxson Wall led off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle, stole second, and scored on a Zion Williams single to left to give the Lions an early 1-0 lead. Wall, who entered the game hitting .484 on the season, finished 2-for-3 with two walks, two stolen bases, and three runs scored, continuing one of the hotter starts in the Lions' lineup.
The game broke open in the third. After Vokal walked Wall to load the bases with nobody out, Davidson turned to freshman lefty Carson Taggart. Gamboa greeted him with a bases-clearing double to right field, plating
Jake Lyall,
Cooper Whitton, and Wall in one swing to make it 4-0. Wall was among the three scored on Vokal's ledger, with Taggart charged for the other two unearned runs from the inherited situation.
Travis Friend extended the lead in the fourth with a solo home run to left field off Taggart, his second of the season, pushing LMU ahead 5-1.
The Lions continued to pour it on in the sixth against Davidson reliever Keely Furr. With Zach Wadas and Andrew Mhoon aboard, both runners executed a double steal, and Wadas scored on a wild pitch. Mhoon then came home on a Friend sacrifice fly to center, capping a two-run frame and making it 7-1. Wadas, who leads the team with 13 RBI on the season, reached base three times on walks, continuing a patient approach at the plate that has him drawing nine free passes in 42 at-bats this year.
LMU added two more in the seventh. Gamboa doubled to right center to score Wall, who had singled and stolen his second base of the game, before Gamboa himself scored when Furr uncorked a wild pitch after
DJ Ghiorso reached on a dropped third strike.
The Lions closed the scoring in the eighth, plating two more on wild pitches and a Gamboa fielder's choice RBI that scored Lyall to end the game early due to the run rule. Gamboa finished 2-for-5 with five RBI and two doubles, both going to the opposite field gap, pushing his season RBI total to 10. Mhoon, hitting .308 on the year entering Sunday, added two hits and a stolen base.
Niko Riera came on in relief to start the seventh and retired Davidson without a run in two innings of work. He struck out three, scattered three hits and a walk, and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the seventh by getting Jamie Daly to strike out looking and inducing a fielder's choice to strand all three runners. Riera threw 36 pitches, 22 for strikes, and lowered his season ERA to 3.33 across 8.0 innings of relief work.
LMU was nearly flawless in the field, committing no errors through Laine's six innings. The Lions drew seven walks as a team and went 4-for-4 on stolen bases, consistently creating problems for Davidson catcher Will Brooks. The team's 11-run output was a welcome sign for an offense that entered the day hitting just .212 on the season.
The Lions will continue their early season gauntlet with two midweeks on Monday and Tuesday. They face the Utah Utes on Monday at 1:00 p.m. (PT) before traveling to UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday to face the Gauchos.
