Sept. 26, 2002

Los Angeles, Calif. - USA Baseball announced today that Loyola Marymount University ranks among the Top 50 Collegiate Baseball Programs in the nation that that have produced USA Baseball National Team players, since 1984.

The Lions have been represented by infielders Chris Gomez (1990) and Joe Ciccarella (1990). Ciccarella led LMU in hitting, posting a school-record .435 average in 1991, while Gomez is one of LMU's finest defensive infielders of all time.

Since USA Baseball began selecting players and operating an official National Team to represent the United States in 1984, close to 350 collegiate players have donned the Red, White, and Blue uniform from 114 colleges and universities across the country.

LMU head coach Frank Cruz was an assistant coach with the 2000 USA National Baseball team that ended its Red, White and Blue Tour with a 27-3-1 record, including a 6-0 mark in the final tournament of the summer season leading to the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia.