Kevin Armijo

PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Loyola Marymount Lions scored five runs in the top of the tenth inning to defeat the Portland Pilots 7-2 in the West Coast Conference opener for both teams at Joe Etzel Field on Saturday. The Pilots (14-11, 0-1 WCC) had tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth when freshman 3B Kevin Armijo connected for a two-out, RBI single.

Junior 1B Chase Powell led off the bottom of the ninth with a single to left field. After junior DH Paul Crowder advanced Powell to second with a sacrifice bunt, senior OF Danny Meier flied out to left for the second out of the inning.

Armijo then came through with his second game-tying, two-out, run-scoring hit of the season. LMU (14-11, 1-0 WCC) reliever Xavier Esquivel then induced an inning-ending fly out from sophomore C Rocky Gale.

But the Lions responded with five runs in the top of the 10th. After a pair of singles and a sacrifice bunt gave LMU runners on the corners, Andy Preston knocked in the first run off of freshman reliever Scott Burris (1-2) when he reached on a Portland error. Matt Koch scored on the play to make it 3-2.

The Lions weren’t finished. With the bases loaded moments later, Jonathan Johnson smacked a two-run double off of UP junior reliever Matthew Lange to make it 5-3. After Lange struck out Michael Glomb, Ryan Wheeler then brought home two more runs with a single to right field. Ollie Enos ended the inning by popping out to the short stop.

Esquivel (3-1) then retired the Pilots in order in the bottom of the tenth to pick up the win. Burris, who was charged with three runs in 1.0 inning of work, picks up the loss for Portland. Only two of the runs Burris allowed were earned, while neither of the two surrendered by Lange were earned.

Portland used six pitchers on the day. Senior starter David Gruener worked 6.0 innings, allowing just two runs on five hits, while striking out five.

LMU starter Martin Viramontes pitched a solid 7.1 innings and allowed just one run on three hits. He struck out seven and walked two.

The Lions, who used four pitchers total, scored the game’s first run in the top of the second inning. Wheeler knocked in Sean Dovel with a single to left-center field. LMU made it a 2-0 game with another tally in the top of the sixth. Andy Preston picked up the RBI with a sacrifice fly to center field.

Portland got on the board with a run in the bottom of the seventh to cut the deficit to 2-1. Gale followed a Meier walk and an Armijo double with a run-scoring ground out to the shortstop.

LMU, which was led by Wheeler’s three hits, out-hit the Pilots 9-5 and didn’t commit an error. Armijo led Portland with two hits.

Portland and LMU next conclude their three-game WCC series with a double header on Sunday at Joe Etzel Field. The first game is set for 11:00 a.m. Wet weather, which washed out Friday’s game, caused the Pilots and Lions to shuffle their original schedule for the weekend.