STOCKTON – An improbable run into the NCAA baseball tournament was completed Saturday night by Loyola Marymount after a 10th inning triple by Cooper Uhl scored two runs and put the Lions in the national tournament for the first time in 19 years.
The No. 4-seed Lions, who didn’t qualify for the West Coast Conference playoffs until the last day of the regular season, clinched the automatic berth by defeating No. 3 St. Mary’s 4-2 in the WCC championship at Stockton Ballpark. The Lions (32-23), who were projected to finish seventh in the WCC in the polls, rushed the field in celebration after the final out in the bottom of the 10th.