Jan. 29, 2014

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WCC Preseason Poll

The LMU baseball team, led by sixth-year head coach Jason Gill, was picked to finish fourth in the competitive West Coast Conference, it was announced by the conference office after polling all 10 of the head coaches during the preseason. San Diego, which received six of the 10 first-place votes, topped the conference poll for the seventh straight year, earning 76 points. The WCC also announced the preseason All-Conference team, as junior right-hander Colin Welmon earned a spot on that list for the second straight year.

Three other teams also received at least one first-place vote, with San Francisco claiming two, and Pepperdine and BYU earning one apiece. The Waves were a slight favorite to claim second, taking home 68 points, followed by San Francisco (66) and the Lions.

Gonzaga was picked fifth (51 points), followed by BYU (49), Portland (27), WCC-newcomer Pacific (23), Saint Mary's (21) and Santa Clara (13).

Welmon is one of five pitchers on the preseason All-WCC team, as he is joined by Abe Bobb (San Francisco), Aaron Brown (Pepperdine), P.J. Conlon (San Diego), and Travis Radke (Portland). A first team All-WCC selection in 2013, Welmon served as LMU's Friday starter for the majority of the 2013 season, pitching to a 5-4 record and a team-best 2.30 ERA with 64 strikeouts over 12 starts and 78.1 innings of work. The right-hander held opponents to a .223 average against while posting one complete game and having his hand in a pair of shutouts. Welmon went 3-2 with a 3.20 ERA over seven starts against WCC teams.

All told, eight of the 10 WCC schools are represented on the preseason All-West Coast Conference team, led by Pepperdine and San Francisco which placed two position players and a pitcher on the squad. BYU, Gonzaga and San Diego each placed two on the preseason list.

The Lions finished the 2013 season with a 24-27 overall record and a 12-12 mark in the WCC to finish sixth. The LMU pitching staff proved to be the highlight of the year, as Lion hurlers combined for a program-best 3.17 team ERA.

The 2014 LMU baseball season begins on February 14 when the Lions open a three-game series against Utah Valley at 6 pm. That game will be the first of 19 games to be played under the new lights at LMU's Page Stadium.

2014 WEST COAST CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL

2014 PRESEASON ALL-WEST COAST CONFERENCE TEAM