March 5, 2015 LMU Baseball Schedule | | LMU Baseball Notes
MEDIA LINKS
LMU at Arkansas - Friday 1:05 PM | Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats
LMU at Arkansas - Saturday 1:05 PM | Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats
LMU at Arkansas - Sunday 11:05 AM | Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats
THIS WEEK
LMU (8-4) will hit the road for its lone non-conference away weekend series this year, traveling to Arkansas (7-2) for three games starting on Friday at 1:05 pm PT...Saturday's 1:05 pm PT game will then be followed by an 11:05 am PT finale on Sunday...the two teams have played only one other game in program history, as the Lions defeated Arkansas in a 1988 NCAA Regional held in Stillwater, Okla...live audio, video and stats for the series can be found at LMULions.com...
READY FOR A CLOSE-UP
All three games against Arkansas this weekend will be broadcast live on the SEC Network and WatchESPN...
LION TRACKS
The LMU baseball team (8-4) plated a critical ninth-inning insurance run on Tuesday before holding on to defeat Long Beach State (8-4) 7-6 at Blair Field...senior Tanner Donnels laced a two-out RBI-double into the right-centerfield gap to score David Edwards in the top of the inning to send LMU into the bottom of the ninth with a three-run cushion at 7-4...the Dirtbags scored two unearned runs in the home-half, but LMU held on to earn the victory...sophomore Austin Miller had a strong day out of the leadoff spot for the Lions, finishing 3-for-5 with a double, two runs scored and two RBI...senior David Edwards, hitting out of the second spot in the order for the first time this year, went 2-for-5 with two runs scored...sophomore Brenton Arriaga took a no-decision after allowing four runs on eight hits and four walks over 3.1 innings, but LMU's bullpen was impressive over the final 5.2 innings...freshman Cory Abbott went 1.2 scoreless before senior Kevin Glomb retired all six batters he faced, including striking out one...LMU took the lead with a three-run seventh inning, catapulting Glomb in line for his first victory of the season...after Sean Watkins retired the first two he faced in the eighth, the freshman ran into a bit of trouble...a single put him in the stretch for the first time this year, as he proceeded to walk the next hitter to put the tying run aboard in a 6-4 game...LMU promptly went to the bullpen once again, summoning junior Michael Silva...the right-hander, who has been stellar in relief this year, struck out Zack Rivera to strand the runners and maintain the lead...although he allowed two unearned runs in the ninth, sophomore JD Busfield secured his fifth save of the season...
PUNCHOUT PROS
The LMU pitching staff has shown a knack for missing bats early this year, as the Lions have registered 95 strikeouts in 107 innings to average .89 per inning and 7.92 per game played...leading the way for the Lions are Colin Welmon (25 strikeouts) and Tylor Megill (15 strikeouts)...both Welmon and Megill have registered a 10+ strikeout game this year, something that LMU did not accomplish all of last season (last: Aaron Griffin | 4/27/13 at Portland)...Welmon's 12 strikeout game against Saint Joseph's on 2/20 was the first for LMU since Trevor Megill struck out 12 at #18 USD on 5/12/12...at the current strikeout-per-game rate, LMU is on pace to strike out 412 batters during the regular season...the LMU record for strikeouts in a season is 451 in 2000...
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
Never afraid to wear a pitch to reach first base, LMU has quickly recorded 30 hit-by-pitches over 12 games this year (2.50 per game)...that mark ranks third in the nation behind UC Davis (29) and Washington (27)...LMU is on pace to drawing 130 hit-by-pitches during the regular season...LMU's existing program record is 112 in 2000...Billy Wilson has been hit six times, while Joe Murray, Cassidy Brown and Sean Watkins have all been hit four times...10 different Lions have registered at least one hit-by-pitch...the high-water mark for the year was five hit batsmen against Saint Joseph's on 2/21 in the second game of a doubleheader, while LMU has not managed a hit-by-pitch in only two games this year (2/24 at UC Riverside | 3/1 vs. Nebraska)...the five hit-by-pitches were the most for the Lions since recording five at Cal State Fullerton on 5/18/10...
IN A PINCH
LMU has shown a strong bench so far this year when players have been called upon to contribute in a pinch...the Lions are batting .400 (8-for-20) in pinch-hit opportunities, led by junior Joe Christian (2-for-3) and freshman Jamey Smart (3-for-6)...in those 20 at bats, LMU pinch-hitters have registered a double and four RBI...
TICKET PACKAGES ON SALE
With a home-heavy 2015 schedule that features 31 games at Page Stadium, including 23 under the lights, fans will have plenty of opportunity to see the Lions in action this year - and there is no better way to catch the action than by purchasing a season ticket plan...season ticket plans start at $40 for a General Admission season ticket...each season ticket purchased comes with a commemorative LMU Scarf...children 12 years and under attending any regular season LMU baseball game get in for free if they are wearing their softball or baseball youth league uniform...to purchase General Admission season tickets or single-game tickets, please visit LMULions.com/tickets...
ABOUT ARKANSAS
Arkansas enters the weekend series with the Lions sporting a 7-2 overall record...the Razorbacks feature three hitters with .400+ averages, including Bobby Wernes at .444 with nine runs scored, a double, three triples, a homer and six RBI...Tyler Spoon is batting .424 with seven runs scored, five doubles, a triple, a homer and 10 RBI...Arkansas has hit 11 home runs as a team, led by Andrew Benintendi with three...the Razorbacks are hitting .350 overall while slugging .556...the pitching staff has registered a 2.84 ERA, guided by Sunday's starter Keaton McKinney with a 1.46 ERA over two starts and 12.1 innings...Trey Killian will make his first start of the season on Friday after registering a 4-9 record and a 2.30 ERA in 2014...right-hander Dominic Taccolini will toe the rubber on Saturday, carrying a 2-1 mark and a 3.38 ERA through three starts and 16 innings of work...Arkansas is led by 13th-year head coach Dave Van Horn...
I'M GOING STREAKING!
LMU had four different players register a hitting streak of 12 games last year, but only one made it past that mark...David Fletcher carried a 15-game hitting streak into the 2015 season, and with a hit in each of the first four games this year, ran that streak to 19 games before it ended against Saint Joseph's on 2/20 (0-for-2 | 2 BB)...Fletcher posted multiple hits in 10 of the games en route to accumulating a .413 batting average to go along with 12 runs scored, 7 RBI, 2 doubles, a triple and 11 stolen bases...despite the hit streak coming to an end just short of 20 games, he has hit safely in 36 of his last 40, and 39 of the last 44 dating back to 2014...the native of Cypress, Calif. has also reached in 26 of his last 27 games (25 game streak ended on 3/1 vs. Nebraska), and 38 of the last 40, overall...in addition to Fletcher, Billy Wilson and Tanner Donnels have also reached in 11 of LMU's 12 games this year...
THE NAME OF THE GAME
It's often said that pitching is the name of the game, and LMU starters played the game well through nine games in 2015...senior Colin Welmon tossed six innings and allowed just one unearned run on Opening night before going seven frames and allowing only one earned run while striking out 12 in his second start...the right-hander then went 7.2 innings, striking out nine and allowing just one run against Nebraska on 2/27 to record the victory in his third start...redshirt-junior Trevor Megill went six of his own and allowed just one run on just two hits with four strikeouts on 2/14 in his first start of the season...Tylor Megill followed his brother's lead with six innings of his own, allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits while striking out a pair in the finale against San Jose State before registering five shutout innings and 11 strikeouts to combine on LMU's first shutout of the year on 2/21 against Saint Joseph's...the momentum has also carried into the midweek, as sophomore Brenton Arriaga threw five scoreless frames, allowing just two hits at San Diego State on 2/17, before registering a victory and tossing six innings and allowing jus two runs at UC Riverside on 2/24...through the first nine games, Lion starters pitched to six victories and a 1.54 ERA, allowing just 37 hits, striking out 51 and limiting opponents to just a .198 batting average against over 52.2 innings of work...through 12 games, LMU starters have registered a 6-3 record and a 2.71 ERA with 58 strikeouts over 66.1 innings...removing the game against San Diego State, LMU relievers have also been stellar, registering a 1.43 ERA with 36 strikeouts over 37.2 innings of work...in total, the LMU bullpen has posted a 2.28 ERA and a 2-1 record with five saves...
PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Freshman Tylor Megill earned Rawlings West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week for his efforts in his second career start, it was announced by the Conference office on 2/23...Megill combined on a 10-0 shutout of Saint Joseph's on 2/21 from Page Stadium...Megill clinched the weekend series victory over Saint Joseph's, tossing five scoreless innings and allowing just three hits while striking out a career-best 11 batters to record the win...the right-hander threw 88 pitches before turning the ball over the bullpen as the Lions ultimately posted the first shutout victory of the season...the weekly selection is the first of the year for LMU...Santa Clara's Jose Vizcaino, Jr. was named WCC Player of the Week for the second time in as many weeks...
PICKED BEFORE THE PITCH
Senior right-hander Colin Welmon and sophomores David Fletcher and Austin Miller were tabbed preseason All-WCC prior to the start of the 2015 campaign...all three players earned first team All-WCC selections in 2014...the All-WCC selection was the second for Welmon...for more information on their stellar 2014 campaigns, please see the "All-Conference Returners" section of this release...
SURVEY SAYS
The LMU baseball team, led by seventh-year head coach Jason Gill, is the favorite to win the 2015 WCC Championship, it was announced by the conference office following a poll of the 10 conference head coaches...the Lions earned six of 10 possible first-place votes and 77 overall points in the poll...LMU is also the favorite according to Perfect Game and D1Baseball.com...
ALL-CONFERENCE RETURNERS
LMU returns four players who received All-WCC recognition at the end of the 2014 season, including first-teamers Colin Welmon, Austin Miller and David Fletcher to accompany honorable mention selection Ted Boeke...Welmon went 10-2 with a 2.37 ERA over 14 starts last year, posting four complete games, including three straight to finish the year, and all four in his last five starts...the native of Tustin, Calif., who struck out 58 and walked 19 over 106.1 innings, tossed 7.0+ innings in all but two starts...Miller earned first team Freshman All-American accolades from Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association to go along with a WCC Freshman of the Year selection...he batted a team-high .374 with 46 runs scored, 10 doubles, three triples and 18 RBI while swiping 25 bases in 29 attempts and reaching at a .474 clip...the native of Greeley, Colo. also drew 21 hit-by-pitches, matching the LMU record for a single season, while leading the team in average, slugging percentage (.451), on-base percentage, runs scored, hits (77), triples, total bases (93) and stolen bases...Fletcher earned Freshman All-American accolades from Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association to accompany an American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings second team All-West Region selection and the WCC Defensive Player of the Year...the native of Cypress, Calif. hit .329 with 37 runs scored, six doubles, two triples and 28 RBI while starting all 56 games for the Lions at shortstop...he also hit safely in 30 of LMU's last 32 games, including a team-high 15-game hit streak to finish the year...Boeke batted .289 with 14 runs scored, four doubles, two triples and 10 RBI over 45 games played and 35 starts as a freshman...the La Crescenta, Calif. native also batted .364 with 10 runs scored, three doubles, two triples and seven RBI against conference foes...
THAT'S GOLD, COLIN! GOLD!
Senior right-hander Colin Welmon is one of 50 players named to the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award watch list...the award will eventually name the top amateur baseball player in the country in a trophy presentation on Tuesday, June 23 in Los Angeles...sponsored by Major League Baseball, and presented in partnership with the Rod Dedeaux Foundation, 2015 marks the 38th year of the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award...Welmon is the first Lion to be named to the list since Angelo Songco (2009)...the preseason watch list features 50 of the nation's top amateur players, and will be a "rolling" list until May 22 -- when the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award semifinalists are announced -- ensuring that athletes can play themselves into consideration for the award throughout the collegiate and high school seasons...
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 page at LMULions.com...
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
In its 33rd season as the home of Lion baseball in 2015, George C. Page Stadium also enters its second year under the lights...the 2015 LMU baseball schedule features 31 of its 52 games played at home, including 23 under the lights...the Lions are 6-3 (3-2 under lights) so far at home in 2015...LMU went 20-10 at home last year, including 13-5 under the lights...the Lions will play only one non-conference road weekend series during the regular season this year (Arkansas)...non-conference series feature games vs. San Jose State, Saint Joseph's and Nebraska, while WCC foes Santa Clara, Gonzaga, BYU, Pacific and USD will all visit LMU...the Lions, who have posted a 523-387-4 (.574) overall record in the park's 32 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 (.857)...
JOURNEY TO THE TOURNEY
For the third consecutive year, the West Coast Conference will hold a WCC Championship Tournament at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, Calif. from May 21-23 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...
WELLS FARGO PCH CUP
Separated by 19.1 miles of scenic coastline, longtime cross-town adversaries Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine came together in an effort to boost their decades-long rivalry with the creation of the Wells Fargo Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) Cup...the series, which is in its sixth 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 post-season 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 post-season championships...LMU currently leads the 2014-15 standings, 7-5.5...Pepperdine has won the challenge in each of the first five seasons...to learn more about the PCH Cup and view the current scorecard, please visit: http://tinyurl.com/6n4l82s
HEADED TO THE HALL
LMU baseball was well-represented in this year's LMU Hall of Fame class, as Billy Traber and Scott Walter were both be inducted into the Hall on 2/21 as part of the 16th class to be inducted...as part of the celebration, Traber threw out that night's ceremonial first pitch - to Walter...Traber and Walter combined to form one of the best three-year batteries in the history of the West Coast Conference, leading the baseball program to three straight conference crowns, the first men's program to do so in school history...Walter would go on to earn second-team All-American honors as a catcher in 2000 and ranks third all-time with 36 home runs...Traber also went on to earn All-America honors and was the WCC Pitcher of the Year in 2000, ranking second all-time with 338 strikeouts...
@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...
FINISH WHAT YOU START
Senior Colin Welmon has registered three career complete-game shutouts, including two last year, and six career complete games...the right-hander completed four of his last five starts overall in 2014, including each of his final three...his first career complete-game shutout came against Hawaii on 2/28/13 (2 H | 6 K | 95 Pitches)...he then went the distance in a shutout on 4/17/14 at BYU (6 H | 2 BB | 3 K | 117 Pitches)...his most recent shutout came on 5/16/14 at Pacific (5 H | 4 K | 99 Pitches)...
BEAN NAMED AMBASSADOR FOR INCLUSION
One year after Major League Baseball issued a policy prohibiting players from harassing and discriminating against others players based on their sexual orientation, former Commissioner Bud Selig appointed former LMU outfielder and LMU Hall of Famer Billy Bean as MLB's first Ambassador for Inclusion...the announcement was made on July 15, 2014...in his new role, Bean, who made public that he is gay in 1999, will provide guidance and training related to efforts to support those in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community throughout Major League Baseball...he will work with Major and Minor League Clubs to encourage equal opportunity in accordance with the joint MLB-MLBPA Workplace Code of Conduct...Bean, whose No. 44 baseball jersey is retired at LMU, spent four seasons with the Lions, where he still is a record holder in numerous categories...Bean led the Lions to the program's first ever College World Series appearance in 1986 during his senior season...he 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...Bean 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 was inducted into the WCC Hall of Honor in 2012...
ALL IN THE FAMILY
Senior Tanner Donnels, redshirt senior Kevin Glomb, sophomore Tim Peabody, freshman Josh Blank, and brothers Trevor and Tylor Megill all have family ties to LMU...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...Blank's uncles, Joe and Jeff Ciccarella, both played baseball for LMU...Joe was the 1991 WCC Player of the Year, an All-American, and a 4th-round draft pick of the Red Sox that same year...he still holds the LMU record for single season batting average (.435), slugging percentage (.778) and on-base percentage (.552) for his efforts in 1991...right-hander Trevor Megill enters his redshirt junior year, while his brother, Tylor, begins his first year on the hill at LMU...
LIONS IN PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL
LMU had two former baseball players in the Major Leagues in 2014, as C.J. Wilson (Los Angeles Angels) spent his 10th year on the game's biggest stage...Ryan Wheeler (Los Angeles Angels) appeared last year for Colorado, while Eric Farris (Minnesota), who also has MLB experience, competed in Minor League Baseball throughout the 2014 season...in addition to Wheeler and Farris, 10 former Lions played in the Minor Leagues in 2014, including Bret Dahlson and Kevin Garcia who finished LMU careers in 2014...the Lions have had more than 120 players drafted by Major League Baseball teams in program history, including 29 players in the last 10 years...Billy Traber and Chris Donnels are the lone Lions to be selected in the first round, 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 22 players selected 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 
