LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The USF baseball team suffered a 5-1 loss in the series finale at Loyola Marymount's Page Stadium on Saturday evening after the Lions used a four-run sixth inning to seal the game.
USF starter
James Kannenberg (3-3) was handed the loss, throwing six complete innings where he allowed five runs on seven hits while walking three and striking out one.
Allen Smoot kept his solid hitting going with a 3-for-4 day and an RBI for the Dons, while
Matt Sinatro chipped in with a pair of hits and a run scored.
The deciding inning started with Spencer Erdman's one-out single, which snapped Kannenberg's streak of eight consecutive batters retired at that point. Kannenberg thought he had struck out the next hitter, Austin Miller, looking on a 2-2 breaking ball, but it was called a ball, which led to Miller's single up the middle two pitches later.
That setup Cassidy Brown's go-ahead two-run triple where he ripped a sinking liner into center field that skipped underneath Sinatro's glove and brought home both LMU baserunners to snap a 1-1 tie and give the Lions a 3-1 lead.
Two batters later, Jamey Smart bounced into a fielder's choice that scored Brown from third, followed by Sean Watkins' two-out RBI single to left that gave LMU (16-16, 7-5 WCC) its final 5-1 advantage.
USF (10-24, 5-7 WCC) did not go down easily, however, as the Dons applied some pressure in the top of the ninth. Smoot stroked his third hit of the ballgame to lead off the inning, while
Blake Valley followed with a ground ball base hit through the left side that called for the end of LMU starter Blake Redman's night.
To that point, Redman had retired 15 of the previous 16 Dons he had faced.
With runners at first and second and no outs and facing Lions closer Watkins,
Ross Puskarich bounced into a 6-4-3 double play. Pinch-hitter
Manny Ramirez, Jr. came up with a runner at third and a chance to extend the game, but his short fly ball down the left field line was snagged by a diving Billy Wilson to end the game.
USF tallied its lone run in the top of the third when Smoot lined a shot that tipped off the end of LMU second baseman Phil Caulfield's glove. Caulfield couldn't find the ball sitting on the edge of the infield dirt right behind him, giving Sinatro an opportunity to round third without breaking stride and score from second base by the time Caulfield corralled the ball.
Redman (5-3) earned the win by going eight innings, allowing just one run on seven hits while walking one and striking out eight.
Watkins picked up the save by getting the final three outs in the ninth.
Brown helped lead LMU offensively by going 2-for-4 with a triple, run scored and two RBI, while Seaver Whalen and Niko Decolati contributed two hits apiece.
UP NEXT: The Dons will host New Mexico at 3 p.m. on Wednesday in non-conference action. That game is scheduled to be played at the new Benedetti Diamond, but official word on the opening of the new ballpark is still pending as the facility undergoes it final stages of renovation. Stay tuned to USFDons.com throughout the week to get updates on the Dons' upcoming schedule.
