April 16, 2014

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -

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THIS WEEK
Having won six straight games, LMU will look to keep on the winning track this week when it heads to BYU for a three-game West Coast Conference...the Lions enter the weekend one game behind first place in the WCC...all three games can be viewed live online, as Thursday's 5 PM game will be aired live on BYUtv, Friday's 5 PM game will be streamed live on TheW.tv, and Saturday's Noon contest will also be shown on BYUtv...

LION TRACKS
The LMU baseball team extended its winning streak to six games on Tuesday, defeating #21 UC Irvine by a count of 7-2 at LMU's Page Stadium...the Lions shut out the Anteaters over the first seven innings before UCI plated a pair of runs in the eighth...senior Tommy Cheek guided the LMU offense, finishing 3-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI hitting out of the third spot in the order...the Lions collected four triples in the game, the most since posting five last year at Bradley on March 3...junior Tanner Donnels collected two of the three-baggers, going 2-for-4 with two RBI...perhaps overshadowed by the strong offensive output, LMU received a stellar pitching performance on Tuesday night, as left-hander Brenton Arriaga tossed 5.0 shutout frames, allowing just three hits and a walk to earn the victory and improve to 3-2...Tim Peabody followed with a scoreless sixth inning before Brandon Horth and Carlos Fuentes both allowed a run over an inning of work...Bret Dahlson entered in a non-save situation in the ninth, finishing the game on the hill and sealing the Lion victory...

SAVING THE DAY
Senior Bret Dahlson recorded his fifth save of the season on April 6 against San Francisco to run his career total to 23, setting the new LMU program record and passing Darryl Scott (1987-90) for the record...the right-hander has now collected seven this year to push his career total to 25...Dahlson registered 11 saves in 2012 and seven in 2013...the 11 saves were good for second in LMU's single-season record book...

WALK IT OFF!
LMU has recorded two walk-off victories this year...junior Jimmy Jack collected the latest game-winner on March 16 against Portland when he posted an RBI-double with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning to score David Edwards and hand LMU the 8-7 walk-off victory...Tanner Donnels had LMU's first walk-off the year, singling in the bottom of the 13th to hand LMU a 12-11 walk-off victory over Cal State Northridge on March 5...LMU did not record a walk-off victory in 2013...

JIMMY WITH THE JACK
Junior Jimmy Jack, who has a perfect baseball name for a power hitter, got the Lions on the board in terms of home runs on March 2 against Utah, connecting on a homer in the third inning in LMU's 322nd at bat of the year...LMU has now hit eight home runs, including three from Jack (two pinch-hit homers), two from David Edwards (HR in consecutive games on 4/8 and 4/11), and one apiece from Tanner Donnels, Tommy Cheek and Kevin Garcia...the 2013 LMU baseball squad managed its first home run of the year in its 1,469th at bat of the season when Colton Plaia hit a homer to left centerfield against BYU on May 2...LMU was the last Division I baseball team to hit a home run in 2013...the Lions finished 2013 with four home runs...prior to last year, LMU's lowest home run total since 1968 was 12 home runs in 1971...

LATE INNINGS HURT THE LIONS EARLY
Prior to LMU's seven-game win streak from 3/1 - 3/9, LMU had lost six straight games...that streak didn't exactly tell the entire story, as the Lions were tied or leading in each of the games over the streak headed into the sixth inning...LMU was outscored 31-4 in the sixth inning or later over that six-game losing streak, as the bullpen registered a 9.53 ERA...looking at the entire year, LMU has only trailed entering the sixth inning in eight of its games this season...

BYU BANTER
BYU enters the weekend sporting a 14-24 overall record and a 5-10 mark in the WCC, having dropped three straight games...the Cougars most recently dropped two-of-three to Pepperdine and a midweek contest to UC Santa Barbara...Dillon Robinson paces the team in terms of average at .404...Brock Whitney is the team's leader offensively, hitting .353 with 27 runs scored, 10 doubles, a triple and 24 RBI...Brennon Lund leads the team in stolen bases with nine in 11 attempts...BYU as a team is hitting .283...Kelton Caldwell provides pop in the order, belting five home runs to the tune of a team-high 30 RBI...right-handers Desmond Poulson (4-4, 4.92 ERA), Jeff Barker (2-5, 4.94 ERA) and Kolton Mahoney (4-5, 4.55 ERA) are scheduled to take the mound for BYU...BYU is led by second-year head coach Mike Littlewood...

IT'S ANYBODY'S GAME
Twenty-four of LMU's 37 games this year have been decided by three runs or less, including eight of LMU's 13 losses...the Lions are 6-3 in one-run games, 7-5 in two-run games and 3-0 in three-run games...LMU is also 1-1 in extra-inning affairs...Twenty-two of LMU's last 32 games have been decided by three runs or less, including eight one-run games...

THE YOUTH MOVEMENT
LMU brought in one of the best recruiting classes in the nation this year, and sixth-year head coach Jason Gill has wasted no time penciling it into this everyday lineup card...the Lions have three freshmen players who have started at least half of LMU's games, including Austin Miller and David Fletcher who have started all 37...Tyler Cohen has started 23 games, while Cassidy Brown and Ted Boeke have each started 17...Miller (.380) currently leads the team in terms of batting average...in an unofficial poll of NCAA Division I baseball sports information directors, only five schools have 5+ freshmen starting half of their games...George Washington and Austin Peay are starting starting seven, while Rhode Island and Georgia Tech are starting six...Ohio is starting five...LMU started a season-high six freshmen on 2/25 at UC Irvine (Fletcher - SS; Miller - CF; Cohen - 3B; Boeke - 1B; Brown - C; Hammond - LF)...the Lions have had seven freshmen on the field at once one time this year, as Tim Peabody took the mound in the fourth inning against UC Irvine with the starters behind him defensively...

LOTS OF HOME COOKING
Entering its 32nd season as the home of Lion baseball in 2014, George C. Page Stadium will also begin a new era of play - the first season played under the lights...the 2014 LMU baseball schedule features 30 of its 52 games played at home, including 19 under the lights at Page Stadium...LMU is currently 17-9 at home this year, including 10-5 under the lights...the Lions did not play a non-conference road weekend series during the regular season this year, instead hosting Utah Valley, Northern Kentucky, and Oregon and Utah from the Pac-12 Conference...the Lions, who have posted a 514-383-4 (.573) overall record in the park's 31 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)...

WELL DONE WELMON
Junior Colin Welmon was named Rawlings WCC Pitcher of the Week on March 24 after another dominating performance against then-No. 17 San Diego...Welmon guided LMU to a 7-0 shutout victory over #17 San Diego on March 21 to start a three-game WCC series with the Toreros...the right-hander earned the victory and improved to 4-1 after tossing eight scoreless innings, scattering seven hits while striking out three against the WCC's top offense...he did not walk a batter over the eight frames, as LMU shut out USD for the first time this year...the weekly selection was Welmon's first of 2014, and his second of his career (May 14, 2012)...the Tustin, Calif. native's 2012 WCC Pitcher of the Week selection also came after his start against San Diego...in three career starts against USD, Welmon has allowed just one run over 25 innings, tossing a complete-game as a freshman and eight shutout in each of the last two years...he has pitched to a 3-0 record with a .36 ERA, striking out 18 and allowing just two extra-base hits and one walk while combining on a pair of shutouts...

PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR CHEEK
Senior Tommy Cheek was named West Coast Conference Player of the Week for the week ending on March 16...Cheek batted .500 (9-for-18) over the course of four games played, collecting four runs scored, four RBI and a pair of doubles to the tune of a .500 on-base percentage and a .611 slugging percentage...for Cheek, the WCC Player of the Week honor is the second of his career (April 1, 2013)...the native of Escondido, Calif. collected multiple hits in all four games as LMU went 3-1, including posting a sweep of Portland to start WCC play...Cheek's biggest game came on 3/15, where he finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored and a RBI...in the three games against Portland, Cheek batted .500 (7-for-14) with three runs scored, two doubles and four RBI...

GETTING AHEAD OF THE PAC
Boasting the last two NCAA Champions in UCLA and Arizona, the Pac-12 is a strong baseball conference that LMU will see quite a bit of in 2014...the Lions were scheduled to play 11 games against teams from the Pac-12, including three apiece against Oregon, UCLA and Utah...LMU is currently 3-7 against the Pac-12...the Lions played 11 games against the Pac-12 last season, including the first seven of the year, finishing 4-7 overall...

ONE FOR THE AGES
LMU's 12-11 walk-off victory in 13 innings on March 5 over Cal State Northridge was a game for the ages...the contest lasted 5:40...LMU collected 24 hits, the most since collecting 24 against Saint Mary's on April 12, 2008...the walk-off victory was the first for the Lions since May 20, 2012 when they walked off on Pepperdine with a 4-3 victory...Tanner Donnels went 6-for-6 with the game-tying RBI single in the 11th and the game-winner in the bottom of the 13th...Donnels' six-hit game matched the LMU single-game record set by Travis Tarchione on April 15, 1987 against UNLV...the Lions also committed seven errors, tied for the most in a single game in LMU history (three other times | most recently 4/5/97 vs. Portland)...

DON'T GO WALKING OFF ON ME...AGAIN
The LMU baseball program suffered its first walk-off loss of the season on February 25 when UC Irvine scored once in the bottom of the 11th on a RBI-single from Evan Cassolato to claim a 3-2 victory...LMU has since recorded a walk-off of its own, beating Cal State Nothridge on March 5 with a single off the bat of Tanner Donnels in the 13th to earn a 12-11 victory...the Lions suffered four walk-off losses last year...the first walk-off loss of 2013 came on March 1 at UNLV...Oklahoma State walked-off on the Lions twice, bookending a series on March 8 and 10...Pepperdine completed the agony with a walk-off on March 17...last year there was one walk-off home run (3/8 at Oklahoma State - Tanner Krietemeier), a walk-off double (3/1 at UNLV - Justin Jones), and two walk-off singles (3/10 at Oklahoma State - Zach Fish; 3/17 at Pepperdine - Drew Hacker)...

PICKED BEFORE THE PITCH
Junior right-hander Colin Welmon was tabbed preseason All-WCC prior to the start of the 2014 campaign...serving as LMU's Friday starter, Welmon pitched to a 5-4 record and a team-best 2.30 ERA with 64 strikeouts over 12 starts and 78.1 innings of work...Welmon held opponents to a .223 average against while posting one complete game and having his hand in a pair of shutouts...the Tustin, Calif. native went 3-2 with a 3.20 ERA over seven starts against WCC teams...

SURVEY SAYS
The LMU baseball team, led by sixth-year head coach Jason Gill, was picked to finish fourth in the competitive West Coast Conference based on a poll of the 10 conference head coaches...San Diego, which received six of the 10 first-place votes, topped the conference poll for the seventh straight year, earning 76 points...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...

ALL-CONFERENCE RETURNERS
LMU returns three players who received All-WCC recognition at the end of the 2013 season, including first-teamer Colin Welmon and honorable mention selections in Patrick McGrath and David Edwards...serving as LMU's Friday starter, Welmon pitched to a 5-4 record and a team-best 2.30 ERA with 64 strikeouts over 12 starts and 78.1 innings of work...Edwards hit .284 in WCC play, collecting 12 runs scored, four doubles, a triple and a homer to the tune of a team-high 14 RBI...he was 10-for-11 in stolen bases in WCC play, and finished 16-for-21 for the year...McGrath emerged as one of the most consistent starters for the Lions after beginning the year as the midweek starter and eventually earning a spot in the weekend rotation...the right-hander posted a 5-2 record with a 2.43 ERA over 12 starts and 14 appearances...in WCC play, McGrath went 3-1 with a 1.38 ERA in four starts, holding opponents to a .193 average and notching 29 strikeouts...

WATCH IT LIVE ONLINE
LMU Athletics will video stream all home baseball games this year through Lion's All-Access...the video stream is free of charge, and will be accompanied by an audio play-by-play broadcast...all road games will once again feature an audio play-by-play broadcast, and links to those broadcasts can be found on the LMU baseball schedule page...to view the video stream, please visit http://tinyurl.com/LMU-All-Access...

@BASEBALLLMU ON TWITTER
For fans, scouts, parents and players who are interested in following LMU baseball even closer this year, LMU baseball assistant coach Bryant Ward is tweeting under the handle @BaseballLMU...to get the inside look at LMU baseball from the coaching perspective, make sure to follow @BaseballLMU on Twitter...

ALL IN THE FAMILY
Junior Tanner Donnels, redshirt junior Kevin Glomb and freshman Tim Peabody all 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...Peabody's mother, Nadine, played softball at LMU, while his uncle, Tom, was a member of LMU's 1989-90 Elite Eight men's basketball team...

TICKET PACKAGES ON SALE
With the LMU baseball season upon us, now is the time to purchase your season tickets to be a part of all the action...the 2014 season will be the first played under the lights at Page Stadium, and fans can purchase season ticket packages starting for as low as $1 per game...using LMU's new online ticket system at LMULions.com/tickets, fans can now purchase season and individual game tickets online at home before coming to the ballpark...the $30 General Admission season ticket scarf allows access to general admission seating on the third or first base line at Page Stadium...fans wishing to reserve their seat at Page Stadium also have the option of purchasing the Reserved Seating Season Ticket for just $60 - just $2 per game this season...reserved Seating is located behind home plate in the seat-back chairs...in addition to coming with the limited edition LMU scarf, the Reserved Seating Season Ticket comes with a nameplate that can be affixed to any available seat for the entire year at Page Stadium...for fans looking to attend single games throughout the season, the online ticket system can also be used to purchase individual game tickets...individual game tickets start at $8 for an adult and $6 for children and seniors (55+)...children with an LMU camp t-shirt or youth sport uniform jersey receive a free general admission ticket...

TOP OF THE CLASS
LMU baseball's group of newcomers was named 22nd-best by Baseball America and #34 in the nation according to Collegiate Baseball...LMU was just one of four non-BCS schools to make the Collegiate Baseball list, and just one of five private schools lauded...the recruiting class was the only school from the WCC named to Baseball America's list...recruiting coordinator Bryant Ward has now had two top-40 recruiting classes in the last three years...the class includes David Fletcher, the 2013 Division II CIF Player of the Year, Cassidy Brown, the 2013 Ohio Player of the Year, Tyler Cohen, a first-team All-CIF selection and the #46 prospect in California according to Baseball America, and Trent Hammond, a first team All-CIF selection and a Max Preps All-State honoree...

JOURNEY TO THE TOURNEY
For the second consecutive year, the West Coast Conference will hold a WCC Championship Tournament at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, Calif. from May 22-24 to decide who will claim the WCC's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament...the top-four teams will compete in the tournament, with the #1 seed facing #4 and #2 facing #3 in first-round play...the tournament is double elimination until the championship game on Saturday, where the winner earns the automatic bid...

LIONS IN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL
LMU currently has one former baseball player in the Major Leagues, as C.J. Wilson (Los Angeles Angels) begins his 10th year on the game's biggest stage...Ryan Wheeler (Colorado) and Eric Farris (Minnesota) also have MLB experience as they compete in Minor League Baseball to start the 2014 season...including Wheeler and Farris, eight former Lions are currently playing in the Minor Leagues...the Lions have had more than 115 players drafted by Major League Baseball teams in program history, including 25 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

LMU Baseball Notes