Stockton, Calif. - With one late run in the top of the ninth inning, the Pacific baseball team saw its postseason hopes come to an end as LMU rallied to take the second game of the series, 2-1, on Saturday, May 17. The loss for Pacific eliminated the Tigers from contention for a spot in the WCC Championships as they fell to 25-25 overall and 14-12 in WCC play. With the win, LMU secured a spot in the championship tournament as they won their 30th game of the season moving to 30-21 on the year and 17-9 in conference play.

In a game in which the Tigers threw their ace in hopes of keeping their season alive, sophomore Jake Jenkins (6-3) found himself on the wrong end of a pitchers duel as he fell just short of a complete game and a seventh conference win. Jenkins' loss against the Lions was his first and only loss of the conference season as he allowed two earned runs in 8.1 innings of work.

For Jenkins, the sophomore made one big mistake midway through the contest as he hung a 1-1 pitch to Jimmy Jack in the top of the fifth that was turned into a leadoff solo home run. Jack got just enough of the pitch to send it over the left field wall as he gave the Lions the 1-0 lead.

With the one mistake by Jenkins the Tigers had work to do facing LMU's Patrick McGrath, who quieted Pacific's bats early for the second-straight game. After giving up a one-out single in the bottom of the first to junior Taylor Murphy, McGrath proceeded to retire the next 14 Tigers he faced before sophomore J.J. Wagner broke up the string with a single to start the sixth. With the hit, the Tigers finally began to show some life and get something going in the inning. With a runner at second and two outs, it was Murphy once again that came up with a knock against McGrath as the junior drove in the Tigers' first run of the weekend to knot the game at 1-1. Murphy finished the game 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.

The tie would last until the ninth when the Lions again got to Jenkins for a single run that broke the deadlock and gave LMU the 2-1 lead. The deadly damage was done early on a ground rule double to center by Cole Trezek who would later come in to score the run on a single by David Edwards. The run ended Jenkins complete game bid as the Tigers went to the pen to get them out of the inning with no further damage done.

In the bottom of the ninth, the Tigers brought the heart of the order to the plate with a chance to tie, but a rally was not in the cards as LMU's closer Bret Dahlson (10) was able to strand a runner at first for his 10th save of the season. The runner stranded was Murphy as the junior worked a leadoff walk to get on base for the third-straight at bat, only to see Dahlson finish off the game with a pair of fly balls and a strike out. The win went to Sean Buckle (2-4), who entered the game in relief in the bottom of the sixth after McGrath had lost the lead. Buckle was able to strand the go-ahead runner at third in the eighth, setting the Lions up for the late inning dramatics.

The Tigers will close out their home schedule on Sunday, May 18, when they finish their three-game series with LMU at 1:00 pm at Klein Family Field.