March 22, 2012

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -

Weekly Release - Nevada

THIS WEEK: LMU (7-10) will hit the road this weekend, traveling to Reno, Nev. to play a three-game series against Nevada (10-9)...Friday's game one of the series is slated for a 2 p.m. start before 1 p.m. starts on Saturday and Sunday...

LION TRACKS: The LMU baseball team struggled on Tuesday at home against Cal State Northridge, surrendering 12 runs on 14 hits while committing three errors en route to dropping a 12-1 decision at LMU's Page Stadium...the offense managed the one run on five hits...Colton Plaia scored the lone Lion run, finishing 1-for-2 and scoring on a Matt Lowenstein RBI-double...Cullen Mahoney finished 1-for-4 to extend his hitting streak to nine games...he has now reached base safely in all 17 games this year...LMU's staff day on the mound saw seven Lion pitchers toe the rubber, as left-hander Brandon Horth got the start and took the loss after tossing one inning and allowing two runs en route to dropping to 0-1 on the year...junior Matt Florer proved to be the highlight, pitching three scoreless frames of relief...four Northridge hitters finished with multiple hits, including Adam Barry who went 3-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBI...

BIG WEST...BIG PEST: The Big West Conference is perennially one of the best baseball conferences in the nation, and LMU has had its fair-share of games against Big West Schools while competing in Southern California...having gone 2-7 so far this year against the Big West, LMU is now 26-37 (.413) under Coach Gill in games against the Big West...LMU has lost 10 of the last 12 games against the Big West...including the nine played so far, LMU is slated to play 17 games against the Big West this year...LMU has played seven of the nine Big West schools under Gill, holding a winning record over Cal State Northridge (5-4) and UC Riverside (6-4)...LMU's worst head-to-head record belongs to UC Irvine (2-7)...

FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS: Freshman Colin Welmon performed like a veteran by fashioning 7.0 shutout innings on the road at Texas, guiding LMU to a 1-0 victory over the Longhorns on March 11, en route to being named to CollegeBaseball360's Primetime Performer's list...Welmon did not factor into the decision, as LMU scored once in the top of the ninth inning, but the native of Tustin, Calif. faced just 24 batters, allowing only three singles while striking out a pair...he finished his outing having retired the final 12 batters he faced in order...Welmon has started five games for LMU this year, going 2-1 with a 2.84 ERA... Welmon, who earned his first career victory on March 2 at UCSB (6.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 K), is a 2011 graduate of Foothill High School in Santa Ana, Calif. and garnered All-City and All-Area recognition as a senior...he has posted 16 straight shutout innings of work after tossing seven scoreless in each of his last two starts...

JANUARY CALL-UP: Freshman Trevor Megill, who graduated a semester early from Bixby Charter School in order to attend LMU at semester, will make his sixth start of the year on Saturday...the right-hander has started a game in each of the first five weekend series this year, going 1-4 with a 3.95 ERA...Megill most recently picked up his first career victory after tossing six innings and allowing two earned runs with four strikeouts against Indiana on March 16...he has lasted five or more innings in four of his five starts, including six innings in three...

SENIOR STARTER: Senior John Lally will make his fifth start of the year on Sunday...the left-hander started each of the first three Sunday games for LMU before missing a turn in the rotation because of the rain-shortened series at Texas...over four starts and one relief appearance, Lally has gone 1-1 with a 5.03 ERA...for Lally, the start will be the 29th of his career...Lally lasted a season-high 5.2 innings in his last start against Indiana on March 15 in the series opener, but was tagged with the loss after allowing three runs with four strikeouts as LMU fell 3-1...

PLAIA ON THE BENCH: Junior Colton Plaia was named to the Coleman Company-Johnny Bench Award Watch List this year...Forty-six catchers were nominated for the award by their coaches, but because the award is given annually to the top Division I collegiate catcher, the list will be updated to include other candidates until May 7, 2012...the annual award serves to honor those athletes that serve as a team's starting catcher in at least 75% of the games...nominees that end up playing primarily another position, such as designated hitter, or those that split their time with another catcher in a 50/50 situation will be disqualified from semifinalist selection...

U-S-A, U-S-A, U-S-A: LMU baseball head coach Jason Gill was named to USA Baseball's 2012 Collegiate National Team coaching staff on February 21...Gill and Grand Canyon head coach Andy Stankiewicz join Oregon head coach George Horton as assistants under current Tennessee head coach and USA Collegiate skipper Dave Serrano...although Gill previously served as an auxiliary coach during the 2000 collegiate trials process, he and Stankiewicz will be making their debut as official coaching staff members in 2012...Gill joins former head coach Frank Cruz on the list of Lion head coaches that have been affiliated with USA Baseball...Cruz, now head coach at USC, served as an assistant coach on the 2000 USA Baseball National Team before serving as head coach in 2004...

HOME SWEET HOME: George C. Page Stadium is in its 30th season as the home of Lion baseball in 2012...the Mikos Blue Monster is a replica to Boston's Fenway Park's Green Monster, standing 130-feet wide and 37-feet tall...within the wall is one of only a handful of manual scoreboards in all of college baseball...the board itself isn't small, standing 18-feet tall and 46-feet wide...the Lions, who have posted a 475-359-4 (.569) overall record in the park's 30 seasons, have claimed five conference titles while calling Page Stadium home...the first Page Stadium conference title came in 1986, when the Lions posted a 24-8 record at home...the best record came in 1988, when LMU was 30-5 at home (.857)...

SAC FLY KIND OF GUY: Senior Shon Roe collected his first sacrifice fly of the year on February 25 vs. Cal Poly, pushing his career total to a program-best 17...Joe Frazee previously held the sacrifice fly record of 16 from 2002-05...Roe recorded eight sacrifice flies in 2010, a season-record for LMU...always willing to sacrifice himself for the team, Roe also ranks fourth all-time in sacrifice bunts with 23...

ALL IN THE FAMILY: Freshman Tanner Donnels and redshirt freshman Kevin Glomb both have family ties to LMU, as Donnels' father, Chris, played baseball at LMU and was part of LMU's 1986 World Series team before being selected in the first round of the 1987 draft by the New York Mets and embarking on a eight-year MLB career...Chris Donnels is LMU's all-time leader in slugging percentage (.650), home runs (45) and RBI (225), setting the LMU single-season records for home runs (21) and RBI (91) in 1986...Donnels' mother and grandfather also attended LMU...Glomb's brother, Michael, played baseball for LMU from 2004-08, while his sister played volleyball at LMU in 2005...

AN ALL-AROUND PLAYER: LMU's roster features six "two-way" players that could potentially see time pitching and playing the field this year...sophomore Bret Dahlson has already assumed that role, earning one starting nod at first base while also serving as the team's closer...Dahlson finished 2-for-4 with three RBI while also recording his first collegiate save as the Lions defeated UNLV, 6-2, on February 19 to earn a series victory over the course of opening weekend...the right-hander entered the game with the bases loaded and two out in the eighth inning, escaping the inherited jam, before contributing a two-RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to provide added run support headed into the ninth...in all, Dahlson plated the final three Lion runs of the game...

QUITE THE COMBO: Three different players have played at shortstop this year, and combined with everyday second baseman Cullen Mahoney, LMU's middle infield is hitting .347 with 21 runs scored, seven stolen bases and 11 RBI...Joey Boney, a junior transfer from Cypress College, is currently batting .291 with three doubles, eight runs scored and five stolen bases in as many attempts...when Shon Roe is playing shortstop, he is batting .308 with two runs scored and a double...freshman David Edwards is 1-for-1 when serving as LMU's shortstop...Mahoney, who transferred from South Mountain CC, is hitting a team-best .396 with 11 runs scored, 13 walks, three doubles and seven RBI...Mahoney is reaching base at a WCC-best .529 clip, and is the only Lion to reach base safely in all 17 games so far this year...

CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION: LMU is celebrating its Centennial in 2011-12, and athletics will honor the anniversary all season long...LMUat100 will feature a Centennial Game for each of the varsity programs, including a pair for baseball (April 13 vs. USF and May 18 vs. Pepperdine)...the next Centennial game is scheduled for April 13 when baseball hosts USF...pre-game coverage will feature special promotions, giveaways and honor the history of LMU athletics and LMU baseball...for more information, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/6uu8clh SEASON TICKET BLANKET: As part of the Centennial celebration, LMU is offering the Centennial Blanket Spring Ticket Pack for season access to baseball and softball...for just $30, you get access to all home regular season events for both baseball and softball...for those fans wishing to purchase a Premium Season Ticket to baseball, an additional $20 per seat will get you a name plate that allows you to reserve your seat in the stands at Page Stadium...in addition, the Season Ticket comes with the limited edition Centennial Blanket, which is your access to those 50 games...for more information, and to purchase, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/7phmj4u

PACK NOTES: Nevada enters the weekend series with the Lions sporting a 10-9 overall record, having dropped three straight games...the Wolf Pack dropped the final two games of a three-game series to UC Irvine last weekend before falling at No. 3 Arkansas on Wednesday...Brett Jones leads the team offensively, hitting .365 with 11 runs scored, seven doubles and 10 RBI...Austin Byler and Brooks Klein provide pop out of the order, belting three home runs apiece...Nevada is led by 30th-year head coach Gary Powers...Braden Shipley, who should take the ball on Friday, paces the pitching staff with a 4-1 record and a 2.25 ERA over five starts and 28 innings of work...opponents are hitting just .167 against Shipley...Matt Gardner looks to be the Nevada closer, having accumulated five saves in eight appearances to the tune of a 1.93 ERA...

WE'RE GOING STREAKING: Three Lions currently hold hitting streaks of five games or better headed into the weekend series at Nevada...Cullen Mahoney is hitting .469 (15-for-32) with six runs scored, a double, a home run, four walks and six RBI over his current nine-game hitting streak...Mahoney has reached base safely in all 17 games so far this year...Scott Harkin has batted .480 (12-for-25) with three runs scored, four doubles, three walks and seven RBI over his last eight games...junior Matt Lowenstein has hit safely in his last five games, hitting .312 with three runs scored, three walks and three RBI...

WEAR IT: Senior Alex Guthrie has been hit by a pitch four times this year, running his career total to 28 to enter the Top-10 on LMU's all-time list...he currently sits tied for 10th and needs just one more hit-by-pitch to move into a tie for ninth with Mark Veronda...the LMU record for hit-by-pitches in a career is 49, set by Jim McAnany from 1984-87...

BEAN ENTERS HALL OF HONOR: Former LMU baseball standout Billy Bean was one of nine members of the newest class to enter the West Coast Conference Hall of Honor...the class was inducted on Saturday, March 3 at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, Nev. as part of the Conference's celebration of its rich history in athletics and academics during the 2012 Zappos.com West Coast Conference Men's and Women's Basketball Championships from February 29-March 5 at the Orleans Arena...the 2012 WCC Hall of Honor class includes: BYU's Elaine Michaelis (Volleyball), Gonzaga University's Blake Stepp (Men's Basketball), Loyola Marymount University's Billy Bean (Baseball), Pepperdine University's Dana Jones (Men's Basketball), University of Portland's Kasey Keller (Men's Soccer), Saint Mary's College's Tom Candiotti (Baseball), University of San Diego's Thomas Burke (Administration), University of San Francisco's K.C. Jones (Men's Basketball), and Santa Clara University's Kurt Rambis (Men's Basketball)...Bean spent four seasons at LMU, where he led the Lions to the program's first ever College World Series appearance in 1986 during his senior season, was named to the All-WCC first team twice in his career, and was a member of the ABCA All-American second team in his senior season...Collegiate baseball named him Honorable Mention All-American as a junior...he holds the WCC single-season record for walks with 66, is the LMU single-season record holder for runs scored with 84, and still ranks among WCC career leaders in five offensive categories...Bean played six seasons in Major League Baseball, has his No. 44 jersey retired at LMU and was inducted into the LMU Hall of Fame in 1992...

PICKED BEFORE THE PITCH: Junior Matt Lowenstein was named to the Preseason All-West Coast Conference Team...an honorable mention All-WCC selection last year, Lowenstein batted .349 with 32 runs scored, nine doubles, a triple and 21 RBI last season...he drew a team-best 30 walks and stole nine bases...the left-handed hitter recorded 19 multi-hit games, just three short of the team-high...Lowenstein was held hitless just nine times in 50 games played last year...

CLOSING THE DOOR: Senior Ryan Hawthorne is one of 45 players that have been named to the initial watch list for the eighth annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, which is given to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball...the left-hander is the lone representative of the West Coast Conference on the list...with two saves this year, Hawthorne currently sits fourth in LMU's All-Time Record Book for career saves with 12, accumulating 10 last year in his first year as a Division I pitcher...the 10 saves in 2011 were good enough to place tied for second in LMU's Single Season Record Book...Texas hurler J. Brent Cox won the inaugural Stopper of the Year Award in 2005, with Don Czyz of Kansas claiming the honor in 2006, Luke Prihoda of Sam Houston State winning it in 2007, Georgia's Joshua Fields topping the field in 2008, San Diego State's Addison Reed grabbing the honor in 2009, Texas' Chance Ruffin earning the honor in 2010 and Texas freshman Corey Knebel winning it last season...

WHAT A CLASS: The LMU baseball team recorded a Top-25 recruiting class according to Baseball America's annual evaluation of NCAA Division I baseball classes this year...the Lions came in at No. 23, marking the first Top-25 class under Jason Gill...the class had previously been listed in the "Other Top Recruiting Classes" section of Collegiate Baseball's annual poll...although the 2011-12 class truly includes 13 players, only 12 were considered when the list was prepared because standout recruit Trevor Megill graduated from high school early to attend LMU...of the 12 players originally in the class, four are junior college transfers and eight are freshmen...the class also boasts a pair of 2011 Major League draft picks in freshmen Sean Buckle (LHP, New York Mets, 49th Rd.) and Kyle Raubinger (INF, Baltimore, 28th Rd.)...

SCHEDULE NOTES: According to boydsworld.com, the 2012 schedule ranked 19th in the nation in terms of projected Strength of Schedule (SOS) in the preseason, which takes into account the projected results and success of LMU's opponents this season...LMU currently ranks 44th in Strength of Schedule, 133rd in Iterative Strength Rating (ISR), which is essentially a measure of the quality of a team's season by combining its winning percentage with the difficulty of its schedule, and 150th in Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), the official measure of team quality used by the tournament selection committee...the Lions were scheduled to play 55 games this year, including 27 at home in Page Stadium...LMU will host three non-conference weekend series, while playing three non-conference weekend series on the road...three of this year's opponents advanced to the postseason a year ago, including WCC Champion San Francisco, Big West powerhouse Cal State Fullerton, and College World Series qualifier Texas...

PCH CHALLENGE: Separated by 19.1 miles of scenic coastline, longtime cross-town adversaries Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine have come together in an effort to boost their decades-long rivalry with the creation of the Wells Fargo Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) Challenge...the series, which is in its second year, serves as an annual scorecard for the NCAA-sponsored athletic contests between the Lions and Waves, and challenges each institution to rise above the other within the West Coast Conference...any head-to-head competition, including matches in the postseason and tournaments throughout the year, will be counted toward the scoring and added to the scorecard as they occur...for the sports in which the two teams do not meet head-to-head, the teams will battle for points that will be awarded on the basis of overall finish at their respective postseason championships...Pepperdine currently leads LMU in the standings, 10.5-5.5...to learn more about the PCH Challenge and view the current scorecard, please visit:
http://tinyurl.com/6n4l82s

ONLINE YEARBOOK: LMU Athletics, in conjunction with zmags.com, is proud to offer fans a new interactive publication viewing experience...all LMU yearbooks incorporate zmags' Flash-enabled technology to bring fans clickable content featuring videos and live updated web links...LMU interactive guides will continue to feature player and coach biographies, team histories, and information about Loyola Marymount University and its athletics programs while working in tandem with LMU's official athletics website, www.LMULions.com, to offer up-to-date statistics and news...to view the 2012 baseball yearbook, please visit:
http://tinyurl.com/6mu9quy

A BIT OF BACKDRAFT: Four Lion baseball players were selected in the 2011 Major League Baseball Draft, but Ryan Hawthorne (Seattle, 32nd Rd.) elected to return to LMU for his senior year...the 2011 draft marked the first time since 2005 that the Lions had three players selected in the first 12 rounds...the Minnesota Twins took left-hander Jason Wheeler with the 268th overall pick in the eighth round before the Colorado Rockies made righty Alex Gillingham their 11th-round pick with the 348th overall spot...the Twins also decided to take their batterymate, Matt Koch, with the 388th overall pick in the 12th round...

SURVEY SAYS: The LMU baseball team was picked to finish fourth in the 2012 WCC preseason poll as voted upon by all nine head coaches...San Diego earned five first-place votes and 59 overall points in the poll to finish first...last year's second-place finisher, Gonzaga University, earned 57 points and picked up three first-place votes in the annual survey, while San Francisco, 2011 West Coast Conference Champions, garnered a first-place vote and tallied 51 points to finish third in the poll...

GET OFF ON THE RIGHT PAW: Since 2001, LMU has been victorious in eight of its 12 games on Opening Day, earning a 4-3 decision over UNLV on February 17 of this year...

LIONS IN THE PROS: LMU had 12 former players playing professionally in 2011, including four players in Major League Baseball...C.J. Wilson (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim), Jeff Stevens (Chicago Cubs), Chris Pettit (Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim) and Eric Farris (Milwaukee Brewers) all appeared in the Majors, as Wilson played an integral part in helping Texas to the AL Championship and a second straight World Series appearance...the Lions have had more than 113 players drafted by Major League Baseball teams in program history, including nearly 30 players in the last 10 years...Billy Traber and Chris Donnels are the lone Lions to be selected in the first round, interestingly both selected by the Mets...Traber went 16th overall in 2000, while Donnels was taken with the 24th pick in 1987...including Traber and Donnels, LMU has had 20 players taken in the first five rounds of a MLB draft...LMU's best draft came in 2000, as a Lion was taken in each of the first three rounds - Traber went in the first, followed by Michael Schultz in the second, and Scott Walter in the third...for a list of current Lions playing in professional baseball, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/7taglqf