LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Santa Clara baseball out-hit Loyola Marymount on Sunday but still lost 5-1 to the Lions in the series finale. The Broncos had eight hits but went just 2-for-9 with runners on base.
Loyola Marymount (21-11, 9-3 WCC) took advantage of their opportunities on offense and had a strong pitching performance from Cory Abbott (6-1) to earn the series win over Santa Clara (7-24, 3-6 WCC). Abbott threw seven scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and zero walks while striking out nine batters.
Loyola Marymount took an early lead in the bottom of the second inning. Bono allowed a leadoff double then hit the ensuing batter. After a groundout, LMU got on the board with a two-RBI single to put the Lions up 2-0. Codie Paiva relieved him and threw the final two innings of the game, allowing three hits and one unearned run to go along with three strikeouts.
The Lions tacked on two runs in the third inning after a leadoff walk, a stolen base, another walk and then a double-steal put runners on second and third. After a strikeout, LMU scored on a wild pitch. They added an unearned run on a throwing error later in the inning.
The Lions added a fifth run in the bottom of the fifth inning to lead 5-0.
Junior Michael Bono (0-5) was handed the loss for the Broncos. He threw 4.1 innings and allowed five runs (four earned) and three hits while walking four batters and striking out five. SCU threw three relief pitchers and in total, the Broncos held LMU to just 2-of-14 at the plate and 1-of-11 with runners in scoring position.
Santa Clara scored an unearned in the top of the ninth inning. Senior left fielder Tyler Meditz singled to left field and advanced to second on an error. He moved to third on an infield single and then came around to score on an RBI single by freshman center fielder Andre Nnebe.
Up Next: Santa Clara heads to Cal Poly to play them in a mid-week matchup for the second time this season. The two teams square off on Tuesday at 6 p.m. PT in San Luis Obispo, California.
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