By snoadmin
The Dirtbags battled Loyola Marymount until late into the night on Tuesday at Blair Field, but it was LMU that went to bed with sweater dreams.
The Lions scored two runs in the top of the 11th, and the Dirtbags could only mount one run in the bottom half on the inning, as LMU beat LBSU 6-5.
The Dirtbags (21-13) came in riding a 5-game winning streak, taking two from No. 13 Pepperdine and sweeping Cal State Northridge.The two teams battled back and forth with the lead until the bottom of the 11th, as LBSU desperately tried to hold on to its winning streak.
In the bottom of the eleventh, down 6-4, the Dirtbags made one last push that almost clinched the win.
With two outs, Travis Howell chopped a ball up the center for a base hit, and was advanced on a wild pitch. They managed to stay alive when Jason Tweedy singled, and Matt Cline singled to drive in Howell. TJ Mittlestaedt was then walked to load the bases. But the two-out rally and game was over when Chris Nelson grounded out to the shortstop.
The Dirtbags pulled themselves out of a two-run deficit in the bottom of the fifth, but the lead was short-lived, as the Lions (18-22-1) came back in the top of the sixth to tie, and in the seventh to take the lead again. The Dirtbags tied the game once more at four in the bottom of the eighth.
In eight consecutive innings the Dirtbags ended with runners in scoring position. Several innings over the past weekend also ended with runners in scoring position.
The Dirtbags’ defense continued to struggle. Jason Tweedy, still struggling in the shortstop position, while Danny Espinosa is out with a sore back, was charged with his third error at shortstop.
Tweedy later switched to his usual third base position in the top of the 10th, when the infield made a huge switch. Cline moved over from second base to shortstop, playing short for the first time since he played for Orange Coast Community College two seasons ago, and AJ Pinocchio took Cline’s spot at second, only to be charged with a costly error in the same inning.
Robert Perry hit two triples for the night, only the ninth Dirtbag to ever hit two triples in one night.
The Dirtbags are injury-ridden once again. Aside from Espinosa, who will miss this weekend’s series against UC Davis, No. 1 starter Vance Worley is also out for at least a month with an elbow injury, and Brandon Godfrey is out for another two weeks with a wrist injury.
