Los Angeles, Calif. - Finishing off their road trip to LA, the Tigers came up short in a late game rally as LMU scored three early runs and held on for a 3-2 victory on Sunday, April 19. The win for the Lions (24-16, 11-7 WCC) clinched the series for the second year in a row over the Tigers (9-29, 6-12 WCC).

Early mental mistakes proved to be the ultimate difference in the third-straight one-run game between the two sides as Pacific allowed three runs in the first four innings to fall behind the Lions. Scoring single runs in the first, third and fourth innings, the Lions were able to score all of the runs they would ultimately need as LMU's defense came up with the plays to save the game late. In all three scoring innings for the Lions, LMU took advantage of a leadoff baserunner and twice did its damage with two outs in the inning.

Down a pair of runs, the Tigers picked up their first run of the contest in the top of the fourth when the top of the order came through for a single tally. Bunting his way on, Tyler Sullivan set up the score when he raced first to third on a hit and run single by Jimmy Gosano, the first of two hits for the second baseman. A sacrifice fly by Brett Sullivan brought home the run as Pacific cut the deficit to one momentarily. 

The Lions responded in the bottom half of the inning with their third run of the game on an RBI single up the middle by Cassiday Brown after a wild pitch put a runner at third with one out in the frame. Brown finished his day 2-for-3 with a walk while hitting at the bottom of LMU's order.

Three innings later, Pacific made a run at tying the game up as the Tigers rallied with two outs. After a single by Justin Thaxton put one on, senior catcher Dallas Correa crushed a ball to left center for an RBI double. Even when scoring a run, the Tigers could not catch a break as Correa's shot struck the Blue Monster in left at Page Stadium, a 37-foot behemoth that covers all of left field. Correa's ball struck the monster 25 feet up and at the 350 mark on the wall making it the longest double hit in the country as no other stadium could have held in the senior's blast.

In the eighth the Tigers were again robbed of the tying run when the savior from the night prior, Kyle Dozier, brought back a ball over the right field wall off the bat of B. Sullivan again stripping Pacific of the home run. Dozier beat the Tigers the night before with a walk off single in the ninth and scored the unearned run against Pacific in the third on Sunday.

Attempting their own ninth inning rally, Pacific threatened late in the afternoon when Nate Verlin pulled a one-out single through the right-side. With speedster Jimmy Boras in the game to run, the Tigers had a chance to tie the game when Correa lined a shot into the gap in left center, only to see it snagged on a sliding catch by Billy Wilson to end the game.

The win on the day went to Sean Watkins (4-0) as the freshman went 6.2 IP while giving up six hits and two runs. In relief, J.D. Busfield (12), who won the game on Saturday night, picked up the save thanks to his defense.

The loss went to Michael Benson (2-3), as the senior gave up two earned on seven hits in 6.0 IP. Taylor Johnson and Michael Hager finished off the game for the Tigers allowing just one hit over the final two innings.

The Tigers will have a weekend off from WCC play next week as they face former Big West rival UC Davis in a three-game split series. The first contest on Friday night will be played in Davis at 2:30 pm while the final two games will be played at Klein Family Field in Stockton.