March 27, 2004
Box Score
LOS ANGELES - A day after scoring five runs in the top of the ninth to pull out a West Coast Conference victory the roles were reversed as Gonzaga University (9-15, 3-2 WCC) was on the short end of a five-run inning that helped guide Loyola Marymount University (15-11-1, 6-2 WCC) to a 7-5 WCC win over the Bulldogs at Page Stadium in Los Angeles. The two teams will meet on Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. to decide the rubber game in the series.
Gonzaga again jumped out to an early lead as Kiel Thibault drove home the first run of the game with an RBI single in the third. LMU tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth as James Cooper led off with a triple and scoring on a Kyle Mura sacrifice fly.
The Bulldogs pushed the lead to 5-1 in the fifth as they scored four runs against Lions starter Stephen Kahn. Jeff Culpepper, David Johnson, Matt Reding and Aaron McGuinness all had RBI in the inning with Culpepper and Reding collecting run scoring singles and Johnson and McGuinness driving home runs on sacrifice fly's. Kahn would survive the inning and pitch through the sixth picking up the win to improve to 3-1.
Loyola Marymount inched closer in the bottom of the fifth as Jonathan Oller hit a solo home run against Bulldogs hurler Ed Clelland. Clelland would exit the game in the sixth inning with a 5-4 lead that the Bulldogs bullpen could not hold as Gonzaga committed three errors in the inning leading to a five-run sixth for LMU. Chris Pettit had the big hit of the inning with a two-run double while Oller added another RBI single.
After gaining the 7-5 lead Loyola Marymount's bullpen was able to work out of three straight run scoring chances for Gonzaga including a line out with runners on second and third in the top of the ninth as Daniel Macias picked up his first save of the season. Nate Williams (1-1) picked up the loss for Gonzaga.
Thibault and Culpepper each went 3-for-4 on the day as Gonzaga pounded out 15 hits in the loss. Four LMU players collected two hits with Oller and Pettit also driving home two runs each for the Lions.
