BRIEFLY
The Lions jumped out to a 5-0 start on the season, but since returning home from Hawaii-Hilo have faced a top 30 schedule in posting a 3-5 record since. It won't get much easier, as the Lions travel to take on No. 2 USC on Tuesday before a home stand against UC Santa Barbara...Junior third baseman Tommy Perez, who injured his hamstring against Hawaii-Hilo, returned to the line-up for the first time in the Lions latest four-game week. He was a welcome addition to the order, as he finished the week hitting .615 (8-for-13) with three home runs...The heart of the Lions batting order has responded in this early season, as Perez, Robert Hirsh, Kris Zacuto and Jeff Walker are all hitting about .400 on the season.

No. 2 USC...
The Trojans, who advanced to the 2000 College World Series, have continued where they left off into jumping to an 8-2 record in 2001 and the nation's number two ranking. USC won their first six of the season before losing to Long Beach State and UCLA in consecutive games. They responded with the next two in the three-game series against the Bruins. Both Rick Currier and Mark Prier have been solid for the Trojans on the mound as they have earned records of 3-0 and 2-0, respectively. Prier leads the team with a 0.89 ERA and 34 strikeouts to only three walks. Currier has held opponents to a mere .120 batting average. As a team the Trojans are hitting .313, led by Brian Barre at .433 and Anthony Lunetta at .389.

The Gauchos...
The University of California Santa Barbara will enter a three-game series coming off a mid-week game against Westmont. Prior to Tuesday, they are at 3-4 on the season, with wins coming against San Jose State and two against Santa Clara. The long-ball has been a staple so far this season for the Gauchos, with 11 team homeruns. Jed Stringham has almost half, with five. His 10 RBI is second behind Chad Peshke, who has 11. Dave Molidor leads the team with a .455 batting average. On the mound, UCSB has a 6.47 team ERA and is led by Rylie Ogle and Jeremy Sugarman. Ogle has a 3.18 ERA in 11.1 innings, while Sugarman has a 3.38 ERA in 8.0 innings. Last season the Lions won three games, all coming in Santa Barbara, 12-7, 11-9 and 2-0.

WEEK IN REVIEW...
Last week for the Lions began with a 5-3 loss to No. 19 Cal State Fullerton. LMU jumped out to a 2-0 lead thanks to junior C.J. Wilson's two-run homer in the top of the first. The Titans scored one in the bottom half and then a pair in the second to take a 3-2 lead. The Lions evened the score briefly with a run in the fifth, but it was answered in the bottom half. Junior Tommy Perez started the week, his first game back since game four of the season, finished 2-for-2. Friday was the first of a three-game series against the University of California. It didn't start well, as the Lions fell down early, 4-0 in the first and did not recover in a 14-6 loss. It was the first game of the season the Lions did not lead in a game. The Lions managed 11 hits on the afternoon, all coming in the heart of the LMU order. Perez was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI. Jeff Walker was 3-for-3. Game two of the series saw the Lions hold onto a 9-8 win. A six run fourth inning by the Lions put them ahead and a run in the sixth earned the win, as Perez hit his second homer of the season and Kris Zacuto added his first. Zacuto finished 3-for-4 with three RBI and Joshua Whitesell was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Perez finished 1-for-3 with two runs scored. James Clelland earned the win (2-0), and Felten earned his second save of the season. The final game of the series against the Bears saw the Lions fall 8-5, as a four runs in the third and fifth inning by Cal earned the win. The Lions got four in the first to take the early lead, three coming from Perez's third homer of the season. He would added another in the eighth, his fourth of the season.

THE HEART...
In the Lions latest four-game set, the heart of the Lions order all finished hitting above .400, getting 24 hits in a game against Cal State Fullerton and three games against California. Tommy Perez, hitting in the three and four spot over the week, finished 8-for-13 (.615) with three homers. Robert Hirsh, a senior outfield, finished .429 (6-for-14) with five RBI. Zacuto and Walker finished hitting .400, with Aacuto getting six hits and Walker four. They accounted for 13 of the Lions' 23 runs scored and 18 of the 22 RBI.

PITCHING BY COMMITTEE...
The Lions entered the 2001 season looking to fill the shoes of its 2000 starting rotation that finished 28-11, with three players selected to play with professional programs. So far this 2001 season, nine pitchers have appeared in four or more games for the Lions, with seven throwing in more than 11 total innings. Seniors Chris Gray and James Clelland have both earned solid playing time, as Gray leads the team with nine appearances and 15.1 innings pitched, tied with Clelland and freshman Joshua Muecke. Gray and freshman Joshua Whitesell enter the week with the best ERAs. Gray is at 0.59 and Whitesell at 3.75, including a record of 2-0. Clelland has been impressive early this season with a record of 2-0.

Hot at the corner...
Junior Tommy Perez has been the hot bat for the Lions in the 2001 season. He leads the team with a .462 batting average, earning 12 hits in 26 at-bats. He also leads the team with four homeruns, earning three in the recent three-game series against the Cal Bears, and a .962 slugging percentage. He had his first multiple homerun game of his career in the final game of the series, getting a three-run shot in the first and a solo shot over left-center in the eighth. How hot was the junior against Cal? He finished the week hitting .615 (8-for-13), with six RBI, three homeruns and one double. He scored seven times. He led the team in hits, runs scored, RBI, and homeruns. He finished the week with a 1.385 slugging percentage.

FIRST P.O.W...
Senior outfielder David Maffei earned the Lions' first West Coast Conference Player of the Week nod of the season. He finished the Lions' 2-2 week with a .857 slugging percentage. The leftfielder had four hits on the week, all for extra bases. He finished with two double and two homeruns. The 12 total bases drove in eight runs for the Lions, while Maffei himself scored six times. He led the team in runs scored, homeruns, RBI and total bases.

A Quiet Leader...
Junior first baseman Kris Zacuto quietly became a force for the Lions in the 2000 season. Thus, heading into the 2001 season he has been named a third team All-American by the NCBWA. As one of the returning offensive forces in the Lions' line-up, Zacuto has begun in the middle of the order. While playing primarily at first base a year ago, the junior has been a mainstay at catcher while suppling time at first base in late inning situations and recently getting two starts against California. Through the first five games of the season, Zacuto was only hitting .235 with a double and three RBI. However, in the return to Los Angeles he has finished two four-game weeks hitting over .400. He is now hitting .347 on the season with 17 hits in 49 at-bats. He has a double, a homerun and nine RBI while accumulating a .449 slugging percentage.

SENIOR LEADERS...
The Loyola Marymount University baseball team has five players on the roster who know how to win West Coast Conference championships. Five seniors return to the Lions' roster this season that have been a part of the Lions' last three WCC titles. Outfielder Robert Hirsh, second baseman Jack Brooks, and pitchers James Clelland, Brian Felten and Chris Gray will compete in their fourth and final year in a Lions' uniform. All told, there are 10 seniors on the squad this season.

GRAND FINALE...
Senior Robert Hirsh has begun his final campaign with a bang. The outfielder is second on the team with a .348 batting average, 40 points better than his career average. In 46 at-bats, Hirsh has 16 hits, two for doubles and 10 RBI. He has scored 13 runs on the season, which is tops on the team. He started the season getting a hit in the first six games, which included two multiple hit games. He started the season with a 2-for-4 effort against Cal State Northridge and had his second multiple hit game in the first of a doubleheader against Hawaii-Hilo, finishing 2-for-3 with an RBI. He has been tough when runners on base, as he leads the team with a .560 average with runners on base. Of his 16 hits, 14 have been with runners on.

CAMEO APPEARANCE...
Senior right-handed pitcher Chris Gray has become a staple out of the bullpen for the Lions in his previous three years with LMU. Entering his final season, Gray has broken into the top 10 list for appearances. With his nine already this season, he surpassed Steve Suricao for 10th place and moved into ninth, replacing Drew Bentz. With two more coming against California and CS Fullerton, he moved into eighth place, replacing Tom Henderson. Darryl Scott holds the record for appearances by a pitcher at 131 in his career that spanned from 1987-90. Last season, LMU's Ben Bonilla moved to sixth all-time with 89. Gray started the season with 74 career appearances. Of Gray's 83 current appearances, only seven have been starts. He holds an 9-11 record with a 6.04 career ERA. He needs 16 to move into second place.

A WALK TO FIRST
Senior Jeff Walker was primarily used as designated hitter in 2000, finishing the season with a .333 batting average, 10 homeruns and 42 RBI, earning him all-conference accolades. In his move to first base this season, Walker's is hitting .317 on the season, going 13-of-41 from the plate. He also has a .537 slugging percentage and has scored seven runs on the season. Defensively, the senior has opened some eyes. He has 76 putouts and only one error in his first day-to-day defensive assignment while at LMU.

A LITTLE OF EVERYTHING...
With a diving play in rightfield that helped the Lions to a 7-6 win over Cal State L.A., C.J. Wilson has shown he can do a little everything for the Lions. In addition to his tremendous arm strength in the outfield, Wilson has appeared in six games as a pitcher, earning the start against the University of Missouri. He leads the team with 15 strikeouts and has allowed only six walks. He has helped himself on the flip side. He is hitting .244 on the season, he leads the team with 11 RBI. He has added a double and scored eight times. Against Cal State Fullerton, he had his first homerun of his LMU career, a two-run shot in the first.

ANOTHER TWO-WAY THREAT...
Another two-way threat for the Lions is freshman Joshua Whitesell. The lefty from Rialto High School has been a pleasant addition to the Lions line-up, pitching in seven games and appearing in 10 offensively. He has a 3.75 ERA and as a designated hitter, he has a .333 batting average, going 10-for-30 with two doubles and nine total bases. Against Cal State L.A., he finished 2-for-4 with a run scored. The day prior against Missouri, he was got a single in his only plate appearance as a pinch hitter in the Lions' small rally in the ninth. The past week he also earned the win against Cal State Dominguez Hills, pitching two and a third innings, allowing a single hit. He started the week with a start against UCLA. Whitesell only went two innings, but only allowed two hits and no runs.

LIONS PICKED TO WIN COAST AGAIN...
The WCC coaches selected the Lions as the favorite to win the Coast Division followed by Gonzaga. Collegiate Baseball Newspaper also selected LMU to win the Coast Division, while all both polls picked Pepperdine to win the West Division and overall league title.

Cruz Helps Team USA to Memorable Summer
Loyola Marymount University head baseball coach Frank Cruz became a major frequent flyer this summer. The fifth-year head coach of the Lions was asked to be an assistant coach for the USA National Baseball team this summer, which took him to almost every corner of the world, finishing the tour in Haarlem, The Netherlands. Similar to what he has done with the Lions' program in leading them to three consecutive West Coast Conference titles, Team USA found unparalleled success this summer. Cruz was part of the USA National Team's win over Cuba, 8-5, to claim the championship of the Baseball Week Tournament in Haarlem, The Netherlands Sunday. The win was the second for the National Team over Cuba in four days after defeating the Cubans 9-1. Cruz helped Team USA finish the 2000 Red, White and Blue Tour with a 27-3-1 record, including a 6-0 mark in the tournament. Team USA closed the season with a 21-game unbeaten streak dating to July 7th, which included 20 wins and one tie. The Americans won its last eight games in a row. Cuba dropped to 4-2 in the tournament, with their only losses coming to the USA. The victory gives the National Team a .900 winning percentage, the best in team history. The 1984 team, featuring future Major League All-Stars McGwire, Barry Larkin, Will Clark and B.J. Surhoff, was 37-5-1, for an .881 winning percentage. Cruz and the LMU Lion's program has seen similar success in owning the WCC the past three seasons. In 2000, the Lions posted a 22-8 record in the WCC and 40-19 overall. The team featured six future MLB draft picks and ranked third all-time for victories in a season. Entering his fifth season at LMU, Cruz has posted a 128-109-1 record and has earned two WCC Coach of the Year honors (1998 & 2000).

Breaking the Win Barrier...
The Lions entered the 2001 season with three consecutive 30-plus win season. The only other time they had three or more consecutive seasons of 30 or more wins was from 1986-1991 when they did it six straight years. The 40 wins in 2000 was the fourth best in LMU history. In 1986, the Lions won a record 50 games... The 2000 season featured a 10-game win streak near the end of the season, as the Lions won 13 of their last 17 and 16 of their last 21 games. The Lions went 12-4 in three-game series last season and were 23-0 when scoring 10 or more runs, which included a 30-run outburst against Saint Mary's.

WCC Three-Peat...
Ranked #16 at the time, the Loyola Marymount Lions captured their third straight West Coast Conference Championship with a 6-2 win over Pepperdine University at Page Stadium in game two of the WCC baseball championships. Junior right fielder Jason Aspito led the Lions offensively with his 10th home run of the season. He finished the game 2-for-4, scoring two runs and driving in three RBIs. RHP Michael Schultz went the distance for LMU, he gave up just two runs on four hits while fanning five batters for his ninth win of the season. After using a solid pitching performance from junior Billy Traber to take game one in the best-of-three series, the Lions turned the pitching duties to Schultz. The junior shut down the Waves, going seven before allowing the two runs in the eighth. He closed the game with a perfect ninth to lift the Lions to the title. The Lions took a 1-0 lead in the fifth as Jeff Walker's single drove in Kris Zacuto. The first baseman singled to left with two outs. Schultz faced the minimum in the bottom half to hold the 1-0 lead. LMU broke through in the sixth, scoring three runs thanks to the home run by Aspito. The blast to right that hit the scoreboard scored Scott Walter and Mike Hymes. The Lions added two in the eighth, also with two outs. The rally started with Aspito's single. Aspito scored on Anthony Angel's triple. Angel was driven in by Zacuto's single. For the two game championship series, Angel, the WCC co-player of the year, finished 6-for-10 with two doubles, a triple and four RBI.

PIPE LINE TO THE PROS...
The 2000 season produced some of the top prospects in the country, as five Lions were selected in the first 20 rounds of the 2000 Major League Baseball draft. Junior lefthanded pitcher Billy Traber, who was named second team All-American by Collegiate Baseball, was the 16th overall pick in the draft, being selected by the New York Mets. Right-hander Michael Schultz, who was also a junior, was selected in the second round with the 69th overall pick by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Schultz's and Traber's battery mate, junior Scott Walter, was selected by the Kansas City Royals in the third round with the 74th overall pick. The third team All-America selection was a Johnny Bench Award finalist for the countries best catcher and finished tops in the West Coast Conference with 19 home runs. In the ninth round, the Chicago White Sox selected utility specialist Jason Aspito with the 262nd pick in the 2000 draft. The WCC Co-Player of the Year, senior Anthony Angel, was selected by the Houston Astros in the 14th round as the 427th pick in the 2000 draft. Following the draft, the Arizona Diamondbacks remained committed to the Lions pitching, signing senior Ben Bonilla as a free agent.

LIONS AND THE REGIONALS...
The three-time defending West Coast Conference Champions headed into their third straight Regional appearance as the number three seed and facing Cal State Fullerton in the Lions first game. Behind the efforts of second team All-American Billy Traber, LMU earned its first postseason win since the upset of Stanford in 1998, 6-4 over the number two seeded Titans. Traber's complete game, 13-strikeout performance included two bases loaded jams, coming in the fifth and ninth innings with no outs. In the fifth, after the Titans loaded the bases on a walk, a single and an error, Traber struckout the next three batters to get out of the jam. With a 6-3 lead in the ninth, the Titans again loaded the bases. Traber allowed a run on a sac fly and retired the next two batters on a fly and a ground out for his 10th win of the season. David Maffei's two-run home run in the first inning started a four-run outburst for the Lions in the first two innings of the game. The win allowed the Lions to advance in the winner's bracket against Southern California. USC used a three-run eighth and a five-run ninth to break a 5-5 tie in the top of the eighth for a 13-5 win over the Lions. LMU dropped to 0-3 against the Trojans on the season. The Lions allowed 18 hits in the loss, dropping the Lions to an elimination game against Cal State Fullerton, who defeated Virginia Tech to advance. Michael Schultz went seven and two-thirds innings and picked up his sixth loss of the season. Jeff Walker was an offensive spark for the Lions, finishing the game 2-for-4 with two RBI and a double. Senior Ben Bonilla pitched a complete game for the Lions, but picked up his first loss of the season in a 5-2 defeat to Cal State Fullerton, knocking the Lions out of the NCAA Tournament. Fullerton's Ronnie Corona went eight innings and allowed only four hits and struckout 12 Lions for the win. Kirk Saarloos came in the ninth for the save. The Lions had only five players reach base, as Fullerton advanced to the championship against USC. The Trojans would win the regional to advance to the Super Regional. The Lions finished the season 40-19 (22-8).

Coach of the Year..
Head Coach Frank Cruz, wrapping up his fourth season as skipper of the LMU Baseball program, earned career win No.100 on March 10 when his Lions defeated San Francisco, 16-4, in Game 1 of LMU's three game series at Page Stadium. Cruz has guided LMU to 30-plus win seasons in each of the past three years. The 40 wins this season is his career high here at LMU.

19 Years of Baseball at Page Stadium...
Now in its 19th season as the home of Lion baseball, George C. Page Stadium represents one of the finest collegiate baseball facilities in the country. The facility, which has been the site of filming for numerous commercials as well as feature films, is named in honor of George C. Page, president of the Incentive Aid Foundation. Maynard Kambak, father of LMU baseball alumnus Jeff Kambak, assisted Mr. Page in the stadium's construction that was completed in 1983. LMU's historic first game in Page Stadium was played on March 19, 1983, LMU losing to Cal State Fullerton, 5-1. This season the Lions were an impressive 21-6 at Page Stadium, which was the best winning percentage (.778) in the conference. They enter the 2001 campaign with a five game win streak at Page Stadium. Since 1997, when Frank Cruz took over the program, LMU has established a 71-45 record at Page, a winning percentage of more than 61 percent. That percentage is also the Lions' overall mark at home in the park's 18 years, as the LMU has posted a 316-201 record (.611). Some of the best years have come in the five conference titles the Lions have won while calling Page Stadium home. They are 168-55 in conference championship years at home. The first Page Stadium conference title came in 1986 when the Lions posted a 24-8 record at home that season. The best record came in 1988, when LMU was 30-4 at home (88 percent).