GAME 1: LMU 13, USF 4
 
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The USF baseball team fell behind early in the first game of Friday's West Coast Conference doubleheader at Loyola Marymount and was unable to battle back as the Dons lost 13-4 at Page Stadium.
 
Harrison Bruce (2-for-4, 3B, R, RBI) and Ross Puskarich (2-for-4, R) turned in strong days for the Dons at the plate, while Dan James (1-for-3, 2 RBI) launched his second home run of the year.
 
USF starter Anthony Shew (1-5) had the shortest outing of his career, going two-thirds of an inning where he allowed seven runs on seven hits with one walk.
 
LMU (15-16, 6-5) jumped on Shew from the beginning by getting the first two hitters on base in the bottom of the first as Austin Miller singled and Phil Caulfield was hit by a pitch. That jumpstarted a seven-run outburst for the Lions as Sean Watkins drove in a run with a bases-loaded single, followed by a base-clearing triple from Ryan Erickson.
 
The next hitter, Seaver Whalen, added a run with a sacrifice fly, while Miller and Caulfield drove in runs in consecutive at-bats to cap off the inning as the Lions batted around. 
 
Freshman left-hander Matt Warkentin came in to relieve Shew with two outs in the first inning and slowed the Lions' offense over his 2.1 innings out of the bullpen – matching his season-best - where he only allowed one run on two hits while striking out one until he was eventually relieved by Brock Larson to start the fourth.
 
USF (10-23, 5-6) was able to answer with a four-run inning of its own in the top of the second. James belted his second home run of the year, a two-run shot to right field that got the Dons on the board. Later in the inning, Bruce swatted a two-out triple down the right field line that plated Brady Bate from first base, followed by an RBI double from Blake Valley that cut the LMU lead to 7-4.
 
LMU would tack on runs in the third and fourth innings, before stringing together a three-run inning in the fifth. The Lions took advantage of a throwing error by James at third base, who threw wide of first on a bunt by Miller, allowing a run to score. Then Caulfield and Cassidy Brown hit back-to-back RBI singles to give LMU a 12-4 advantage.
 
USF threatened against LMU starter J.D. Busfield in the top of the seventh when Matt Sinatro singled and Bruce got aboard when LMU first baseman Jamey Smart dropped a throw, giving the Dons runners at first and second. Sinatro went ahead and swiped third base with one out, but a groundout from Valley stranded both runners.
 
Freshman righty Benji Post had a strong showing in relief as he entered the game with runners on first and third with one out in the bottom of the seventh and proceeded to strikeout Jimmy Hill and get Joe Christian to fly out to get out of the jam without allowing a run to score.
 
Post ended up throwing a scoreless 1.2 innings while recording a season-high three strikeouts.
 
The Lions were led offensively by Miller (2-for-3, 2 R, 2 RBI) and Caulfield (2-for-3, 2 R, 2 RBI), while Brown went 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI and Spencer Erdman tallied three hits of his own with two runs scored.
 
Busfield (3-2) picked up the win with seven innings of work where he allowed four runs on eight hits, while walking one and striking out three.  
 
 

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GAME 2: USF 4, LMU 3
 
Game two saw USF jump out to an early 2-0 lead with runs in the first and second innings, while Allen Smoot delivered the go-ahead shot with a two-run double in the seventh. But LMU threatened a comeback as they scored in the bottom of the ninth and put the game-winning run on second base before Joey Carney shut the door.
 
LMU pinch-hitter Jimmy Hill led off the ninth by drawing a walk from senior lefty Frank Waliczek before Spencer Erdman followed with a single that pushed Hill to third. Waliczek then caught Austin Miller, who had homered earlier in the game, looking to record the first out. 
 
The next batter, Phil Caulfield, bounced into a fielder's choice that brought Hill home and cut the USF lead to 4-3.
 
With two outs, Cassidy Brown lined a double to left that put runners on second and third, but Carney came on in relief of Waliczek and struck out the only batter he faced, pinch-hitter Joe Christian, to pick up his second save of the year and second save in as many appearances.
 
"We stopped giving them free bases and opportunities to put pressure on us," said head coach Nino Giarratano after game two. "Thomas [Ponticelli] was great; he pounded the zone and attacked. We were good on defense, which we weren't in game one. If you look at it, that's the key. We're still trying too hard and kind of sputtering offensively, but the key ingredient was that we played good defense." 
 
That defense was especially on display behind starter Thomas Ponticelli in the fifth inning of game two. Shortstop Nico Giarratano made one of the highlight reel plays of the year when he took a hit away from Ted Boeke to start the fifth inning. Boeke hit a chopper deep into the hole where Giarratano picked it up on a short hop and, with his momentum carrying him towards left field, twisted and fired across his body to get Boeke by a fraction of a step at first.
 
Right fielder Beau Bozett added his own run-saving snag later in the inning when he made a sliding catch along the right field line with two outs and a runner at second.
 
The Dons got it going when Matt Sinatro singled with one out in the top of the first before stealing second for his team-leading 17^th theft of the year. Two batters later, Allen Smoot battled through a 10-pitch at-bat before delivering a two-out RBI double into the left-center gap that brought Sinatro home and proved to be the difference in the one-run win.
 
USF followed that up with a run in the top of the second when right fielder Beau Bozett worked a leadoff walk to start the frame. USF then took advantage of an LMU fielding error when third baseman Boeke mishandled a sharp ground ball off the bat of Aaron Ping. The next hitter, Ryan Matranga, just missed a run-scoring double when his line drive was hit directly at Boeke. But Sinatro would eventually help push across the second USF run with a two-out bases-loaded walk that scored Bozett.
 
LMU didn't stay scoreless for long, however, as the Lions got on the board with Cassidy Brown's two-out run-scoring single in the bottom of the third that cut the Dons' lead to 2-1.  
 
Ponticelli was effective through most of the first five innings, but Austin Miller hit a no-doubter of a home run with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, tying the game at 2-2. 
 
Ponticelli then ran into trouble by issuing consecutive walks with one out in the bottom of the sixth, but he was able to work out of it. Immediately after a mound visit, Ponticelli got ahead of Seaver Whalen 0-2 before getting Whalen to pop out to first. Then with a full count and two outs, Ponticelli froze Boeke with a fastball over the inner half, escaping the jam while preserving the 2-2 tie.
 
In six innings of work, Ponticelli (2-3) ended up with one of his best outings of the year, only allowing two runs on six hits while walking two and striking out four.
 
Waliczek came out to start the seventh and promptly got the first two outs before Phil Caulfield ripped a two-out triple into the right field corner. But Giarratano came up with a clutch defensive play charging in on a slow roller to retire the next batter, Brown, and help strand the runner at third. 
 
"Frank came in and did his job," added Giarratano. "And then what can you say about Joey Carney? He came in for the second game in a row and struck his guy out to get us a win.
 
"I'll tell you one thing, this might be one of the most resilient teams I've ever seen in my entire life. Bad things just keep happening, but they battled back. It doesn't matter to them, they just keep showing up and keep on keepin' on."
 
Smoot (2-for-4, 3 RBI) and Sinatro (2-for-3, R, RBI) led the Dons at the plate in game two.
 
LMU starter Cory Abbott went six innings, only allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits while walking three and striking out three. Brenton Arriaga (0-4) was saddled with the loss in relief after allowing two runs on four hits in one-third of an inning.
 
Caulfield (2-for-5, 3B, RBI), Brown (2-for-5, 2B, RBI) and Erdman (2-for-4, R) stood out for the Lions offensively.
 

 
UP NEXT: The Dons and Lions will try to play the final game of the series at 6 p.m. on Saturday afternoon, but rain in the forecast may push the series finale to 1 p.m. on Sunday. Right-hander James Kannenberg (3-2, 3.43) is slotted to take the mound in that game, while LMU will send righty Blake Redman (4-3, 2.84) to the bump.