BASEBALL NOTES: LIONS WAITING TO ROAR LMU PLAYERS WON'T SETTLE FOR LESS THAN TRIP TO OMAHA.Byline: Chris Cocoles Staff Writer The covers of Loyola Marymount's 1999 and 2000 baseball media guides are hints the school has grown accustomed to winning. Last year's cover includes LMU's dog-pile celebration after winning the 1998 West Coast Conference championship, the Lions' first since 1990. The Lions again won the WCC WCC n abbr (= World Council of Churches) → COE m (Conseil œcuménique des Églises) WCC n abbr (= World Council of Churches) → Weltkirchenrat m in 1999, but on the cover was more-subdued portraits of top returnees Ben Bonilla, Scott Walter, Billy Traber William Henry (Billy) Traber, Jr. (born September 18, 1979 in Torrance, CA) is a left-handed pitcher for the Washington Nationals baseball team. Traber went to Loyola Marymount University, where he was First-Team All-American and West Coast Conference player of the year. , Michael Schultz, Robert Hirsh and Chris Gray Chris Gray may refer to one of the following people:
LMU LMU Ludwig Maximilians Universität (München) LMU Loyola Marymount University LMU Leeds Metropolitan University (UK) LMU Lincoln Memorial University LMU Location Measurement Unit beat Pepperdine last weekend for its third consecutive conference championship. When the Lions finished off the Waves 6-2 in the clinching game, there were hugs exchanged but no excessive celebrations. ``The celebrations the last couple years were much bigger than they were this time. . . . But we know there's more that we are trying to attain,'' said Lions coach Frank Cruz, referring to the NCAA NCAA abbr. National Collegiate Athletic Association Regional at Cal State Fullerton that begins Friday. LMU, despite a national ranking and 39-17 record, is seeded just third and plays host Cal State Fullerton at 7 p.m. Friday. Considering USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. also is in the Fullerton regional, LMU will have a difficult task advancing to the Super Regionals that determine the eight- team field for the College World Series in Omaha, Neb. The Lions have gone 1-4 in their two previous playoff appearances. Schultz, a junior pitcher and Cleveland High of Reseda graduate, wants more success the third time around. ``I think falling short of Omaha would be just bad for us. That's our goal right now,'' Schultz said. ``I think we've got the team to win it all.'' --Pitching in: USC, batting .299 as a team, isn't exactly punchless. But Trojans coach Mike Gillespie knows his team's road to Omaha will be driven by pitching and defense. ``We pitch well. Our four guys certainly make up the strength of this team,'' said Gillespie, referring to Rik Currier (12-3, 3.26), Mark Prior (8-6, 3.47), Ronald Flores Flores, town, Guatemala Flores (flōrəs), town (1990 est. pop. 2,200), capital of Petén department, N Guatemala. Flores was built on an island in the southern part of Lake Petén Itzá and on the site of the (6-1, 3.27) and Anthony Reyes (5-6, 4.29). Reyes, a true freshman, and Flores, a junior left-hander who threw just 22 innings his first two years, have made the biggest strides. ``Typically, we play defense well. I think the combination of our defense and pitching makes us pretty good,'' Gillespie said. ``The shortcoming short·com·ing n. A deficiency; a flaw. shortcoming Noun a fault or weakness Noun 1. of this team is offense.'' Justin Gemoll (.380, 18 homers, 61 RBI RBI abbr. Baseball runs batted in Noun 1. rbi - a run that is the result of the batter's performance; "he had more than 100 rbi last season" run batted in ), Anthony Lunetta (.355) and Beau Craig (.284, 16 homers, 56 RBI) can't afford to slump in the regionals. The top-seeded Trojans meet Virginia Tech at 3 p.m. Friday. --Odds and ends: LMU's Jason Aspito and Fullerton's Steve Woodward, who'll oppose each other in the opening game at the regional, were teammates last season at Texas. They transferred after having subpar sub·par adj. 1. Not measuring up to traditional standards of performance, value, or production. 2. Below par in a hole, round, or game of golf. seasons with the Longhorns but have rebounded with their new teams. Woodward is hitting .412, the third-highest average in school history. Aspito leads all Lions starters with a .374 average. . . . The three Southland teams gathering at Cal State Fullerton won't have many secrets. They've all played each other this year. USC beat LMU twice (9-8 and 7-3) and split its games against Cal State Fullerton (7-6, 4-5). The Lions routed the Titans 11-2 in the teams' lone meeting. . . . UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX outfielder Bill Scott likes the thought of playing in what figures to be a rowdy environment in Oklahoma City. ``We're used to that. Everywhere we go, every opposing team we play has more fans, sometimes even at home,'' said Scott, a junior from Granada Hills. ``We've been able to use that to our advantage.'' UCLA, the top seed in Oklahoma City, plays No. 4 Delaware at 1 p.m. PDT PDT abbr. Pacific Daylight Time PDT Pacific Daylight Time PDT n abbr (US) (= Pacific Daylight Time) → hora de verano del Pacífico PDT Friday. . . . NCAA REGIONAL SCHEDULE AND TICKET INFO All games at Cal State Fullerton's Goodwin (formerly Titan) Field Friday Game 1: USC vs. Virginia Tech, 3 p.m. Game 2: Loyola Marymount vs. Cal State Fullerton, 7 p.m. Saturday Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 1:30 p.m. Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 4:30 p.m. Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 7:30 p.m. Sunday Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 1 p.m. (second game to follow if necessary) Ticket information: All-tournament passes for reserved seating are $60; all-tournament passes for general admission seating are $48; individual game tickets are $10 for reserved and $8 for general admission seating. Information: (714) 278-CSUF. CAPTION(S): box Box: NCAA regional schedule and ticket info (see text) |
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