SAN DIEGO—San Diego could not overcome an early five run deficit, falling to Loyola Marymount 10-4 on Friday night at Page Stadium.
 
The Toreros (21-13, 6-7 WCC) fell behind early after the Lions (21-12, 10-3 WCC) scored two runs in the first, one in the second and two more in the third to take a 5-0 lead. USD rallied late after Paul Kunst hit a solo home run in the seventh and the Toreros added three more runs in the eighth but the deficit proved too much to overcome.
 
It was a game of missed opportunities for the Toreros who left 13 runners on base including loaded bases in the third and the pivotal eighth-inning rally. 
 
Tora Otsuka finished 2-for-3 with a double and Ripken Reyes went 2-for-4 with an RBI after drawing a walk with the bases loaded. Adam Lopez went 1-for-2 with an RBI single after coming in to pinch hit in the eighth.
 
Jake Miller (2-3, 3.35 ERA) got the start for USD, pitching six innings and giving up five runs (four earned) on seven hits with three walks, five strikeouts and one hit batter. 
 
Cade Brown, Nicola Mislinski and Nigel Ward came out of the bullpen in relief of Miller. Ward saw the majority of the time on the mound, pitching the final 1.2 innings.
 
The Toreros will look to bounce back in game two of the weekend series with LMU on Saturday at 6 p.m. PT.