It was an unusual weekend in Provo to say the least. There was a game halted by snow, a 12-inning affair, and a frigid finale. LMU ended up winning all three games by scores of 7-4, 9-8, and 9-4.
Thursday night’s game was suspended due to a snowstorm with the score tied at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth. In the series opener, LMU was able to take advantage of walks and well-placed balls off the end of Lions’ bats and into no-man’s land. The key, however, was four scoreless innings of relief when play resumed on Friday from Matt Voelker to shut the door. Blake Inoyue got the loss for BYU while Voelker was credited with the win.
LMU built an 8-2 lead in the regularly scheduled Friday game heading into the bottom of the sixth. Then BYU stormed back to make the score 8-7. It remained 8-7 until the bottom of the ninth when Brennon Anderson drove the first pitch from Braydon Salzman over the left field wall to even the score. Neither team could push across a run until the top of the twelfth when LMU pinch hitter Ryan Kawano reached base on a passed ball strikeout, was bunted to second, then advanced to third and later scored on wild pitches. It was the second time in the game where the Lions scored in an inning without recording a hit. In the bottom of the twelfth BYU had a runner on first with two outs when a high fly ball fell fair down the left field line. Pinch runner Paxton Larsen was headed home and would’ve scored the tying run before he tripped and fell over. Jarrett Perns then grounded out to end the game. Josh Robbins ended up the winning pitcher for LMU.
In the final game on Saturday, LMU took advantage of three BYU errors to take an early 6-0 lead. They would never look back. The Lions ended the game with 17 hits. Nick Frasso started for LMU, going 5.2 innings with 10 hits, 3 earned runs, and 5 strikeouts to earn the win. LMU pitching came up clutch in high pressure situations to secure the lead throughout. BYU loaded the bases three times in the game without bringing any of those runs around to score.
First baseman Jamey Smart and shortstop Niko Decolati were the biggest offensive keys for LMU in the series. The two combined for 12 hits and 8 RBI over the weekend.
LMU (9-10, 3-0) hosts a non-conference game against Long Beach State on Tuesday before staying at home for a three game series with Pepperdine. BYU (9-9, 0-3) will look to bounce back when they host arch-rival Utah on Tuesday and Gonzaga over next weekend.
