LOS ANGELES – No. 2 Baylor fell 3-1 in their opening game against No. 3-seed Loyola Marymount at the Los Angeles Regional Friday afternoon at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Baylor (34-18) was unable to string together hits, tallying just four on the day and only scoring once. The Bears had two baserunners in the second inning, but didn’t have more than one aboard in any other inning.
LMU (33-23) manufactured a run in the top of the second to open the scoring, but the Bears answered back with a run in the bottom half to even the score as Davion Downey picked up an RBI with a groundout that scored Andy Thomas.
Things were tied at 1-1 until the top of the sixth, when LMU snapped Jimmy Winston’s streak of 10-consecutive batters retired with a walk and two hits to take a 3-1 lead.
Daniel Caruso came on in relief of Winston and worked two scoreless innings before turning the ball over to Kyle Hill. Hill pitched a scoreless top of the ninth, but the Bears were unable to put together a rally offensively in the bottom half.
Baylor’s bats were stifled by Lions starter Codie Paiva, who threw 7.2 innings with just one run allowed on four hits. Paiva (8-5) earned the win while Winston (5-3) took the loss. LMU’s Nick Frasso picked up his ninth save of the season with a hitless 1.1 innings pitched.
The Bears will take on the loser of No. 1 UCLA and No. 4 Omaha in an elimination game Saturday at 4 p.m. CT/2 p.m. PT.
By Rachel Caton