LOS ANGELES – Washington State put the tying run on third in the ninth inning but the rally was turned away in a 3-2 nonconference defeat to Loyola Marymount at Page Stadium Monday afternoon.
 
The Cougars evened things at 1-1 in the fifth but LMU took the lead with a two-out RBI-single in the sixth and added a two-out RBI-infield single in the seventh. WSU outhit the Lions 8-4 but left eight runners on base and committed four errors. Anthony Notaro recorded two hits and Koby Blunt singled, stole a base and scored for the Cougars.
 
In the second, WSU put runners on the first and second after an error but LMU ended the threat with a fly out and strikeout. In the third, the Cougars loaded the bases with two outs after a Dillon Plew double, an infield single from Kodie Kolden and a walk to Andres Alvarez but the Lions again ended the threat with a fly out.
 
In the bottom of the third, LMU took advantage of some Cougar miscues as a walk, a fielding error and dropped infield popup, all with two outs, allowed a run to score for the Lions.
 
In the fifth, Koby Blunt led off the inning with a bloop single into left field, stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch before Kodie Kolden scored him with an RBI-groundout to shortstop to tie game at one.
 
In the LMU sixth, the Lions singled with one out and moved to second on a wild pitch before a two-out bloop single fell in right field and the Lion baserunner slid in before the tag at home for a 2-1 advantage.
 
In the seventh, Garrett Gouldsmith led off with a single to right field and was bunted up to second but was stranded at third after a pair of groundouts. In the bottom of the inning, LMU took advantage of a walk, a sacrifice bunt and Cougar throwing error to push one run across on an infield single for a 3-1 advantage.
 
In the ninth, Notaro singled to left and Danny Sinatro pulled a single through the right side. A bunt was popped up the LMU pitch who made a diving catch but bother runners moved up to second and third after a wild pitch. Pinch-hitter Brody Barnum made it a 3-2 game with an RBI-groundout but LMU ended things with a ground out to shortstop, stranding the tying run on third.
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Tyson Guerrero made his 1^st career start, worked 3 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 3 K, ND
Kyle Manzardo came off the bench and went 0-2, snapping his 10-game hitting streak
Collin Montez with 0-for-4, snapping his 7-game hitting streak and 18-game on-base streak
Davis Baillie posted two scoreless innings, striking out 1
 
NEXT UP
The Cougars return to Pullman to host No. 2 Stanford beginning Friday at 5 p.m.