March 16, 2004

Box Score

Los Angeles, CA (Mar. 15) - The Loyola Marymount University baseball team dropped a heartbreaker against UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium 7-5 Tuesday afternoon. The Lions comeback bid was squelched when they left the bases loaded with the go ahead run on first in the ninth inning.

LMU (11-8) found themselves down 7-2 going into the eighth inning but started a comeback when Jonathan Higashi launched his third homerun of the year over the wall in left to cut the lead to 7-4. After the next two batters were retired the Lions began a two-out rally with back-to-back walks being issued to Clint McGill and Jonathan Oller. Brady Koch delivered home the third run of the inning by singling to center and driving in McGill to make it a 7-5 game.

That's as close as the Lions would get however as the UCLA (13-8) bullpen of David Johnson and Scott Botterman combined to record the final four outs, but not without some pressure packed moments first. Billy Lockin led off the ninth by getting hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. Joe Frazee who was 2-for-4 on the day and was also robbed of a two run homer earlier in the game promptly singled to center to get the go ahead run to the plate. After Higashi sacrificed the tying runs into scoring position, Botterman would regroup and retire the next batter on a fielder's choice. After James Cooper drew a walk to load the bases, Botterman got a pop up for the final out of the game and earned his first save of the year.

The LMU offense which was keyed by Higashi who was 2-for-4 with a homerun and two RBI, was also led by Oller who slammed a homer over the wall in right center back in the fifth inning. McGill had a solid day at the plate going 2-for-4 and Lockin and Koch joined the Lions' double-digit hit parade with a single apiece.

The LMU bullpen was solid once again with Gabriel Bueno, Kevin Jenson, Daniel Macias, and Erik Reyes combining to allow just three runs over the final five and two-thirds innings. They replaced starter Jackson Creighton (0-1) who allowed an earned run in his first start in an LMU uniform.

The Lions will continue it's season long road trip when it heads to San Diego for a crucial three game WCC series. Game times are set for 2pm (PST) on Friday and 1pm starts on Saturday and Sunday. All three games can be heard on the Lions' Audio Network www.LmuLions.com.

- GO LIONS -