May 20, 2015 LMU Baseball Schedule | | LMU Baseball Notes
MEDIA LINKS
LMU vs. San Diego - Thursday 3 PM | Tournament Central | Live Video |
Pepperdine vs. BYU - Thursday 7 PM | Tournament Central | Live Video |
THIS WEEK
LMU (31-20-1) will make its second trip the WCC Championship in as many years this week, traveling to Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, Calif. for the 2015 Tournament...the Lions will open Tournament play against top-seeded San Diego (32-20) on Thursday at 3 p.m...Pepperdine (27-26) is the #2 seed, while BYU (28-23) is the #3 seed...live stats and video links can be found at LMULions.com...
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 (USD) facing #4 (LMU) and #2 (PEP) facing #3 (BYU) in first-round play...the tournament is double elimination until the championship game on Saturday, where the winner earns the automatic bid...
LION TRACKS
LMU needed a sweep at USF to qualify for the 2015 WCC Championship, and the Lions traveled to San Francisco and got just that...LMU took the opener 3-2 before recording its fifth shutout of the year (4-0) on Saturday to force a winner-take-all game three on Sunday...there, LMU got out to a 7-1 lead after four innings, but needed a five-run 10th inning to take a 12-7 victory and earn the sweep...Ted Boeke, Billy Wilson and David Edwards each hit .364 in the series at USF, with Edwards collecting four runs scored, a homer and three RBI...Trevor Megill earned WCC Pitcher of the Week for his six shutout innings on Saturday afternoon, helping LMU to a 2.57 team ERA in the three games...LMU starters went 2-0 with a 2.08 ERA over 17.1 innings of work...
ALL-CONFERENCE HONORS
Seven Lion players were named to an All-WCC team, it was announced earlier this week...sophomore David Fletcher earned a spot on the first team, while David Edwards, Austin Miller and Colin Welmon found themselves on the second team... J.D. Busfield, Trevor Megill and Sean Watkins rounded out the All-WCC selections for the Lions, earning spots on the honorable mention team...Watkins also claimed a spot on the All-Freshman team...Fletcher, Miller and Welmon all earned first team honors last year (Welmon was a first-teamer in 2013 and 2014), while Megill (2012) and Edwards (2013) each took home an honorable mention selection earlier in their careers...
PLAYER OF THE WEEK FOR MEGILL
Junior Trevor Megill earned Rawlings West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week this week for his efforts in his latest start at San Francisco...Megill earned the victory on Saturday at San Francisco, tossing six shutout frames as the Lions blanked the Dons, 4-0...the Huntington Beach, Calif. native allowed just five singles and two walks with four strikeouts over his six innings...Saturday's victory helped LMU to a sweep of the Dons on the road, sending LMU to the WCC Championship this week in Stockton, Calif...the weekly selection is the third of the year for LMU, as Tylor Megill earned the honor on February 23 and Colin Welmon took the honor on April 27...the selection is the second of Megill's career, earning the honor on February 18, 2013...
ONE OF THE BEST
Sophomore shortstop David Fletcher was named to the 2015 Brooks Wallace Shortstop of the Year Watch List, it was announced on April 23...the award, sponsored by Mizuno, recognizes the nation's top shortstop and will be presented during the National College Baseball Hall of Fame's Night of Champions on June 29 in Lubbock...Fletcher, a Freshman All-American a year ago, is hitting .300 with 29 runs scored, 14 doubles, two triples and two homers for the Lions this season...hitting in the heart of the LMU order for the majority of the year, Fletcher has driven in 27 runs, has drawn 23 walks and has stolen 13 bases...he has struck out just 18 times in 210 at bats...defensively, Fletcher continues to prove himself as one of the top defensive shortstops in the nation, dazzling spectators and opponents alike with spectacular plays nearly every game...the native of Cypress, Calif., and the 2014 WCC Defensive Player of the Year, is fielding .974 this season...several conferences have multiple players on the list, led by the SEC and Pac-12, each with five...the West Coast Conference has four players on the list, including Fletcher, Logan Steinberg (Saint Mary's), Kyle Holder (San Diego), and Jose Vizcaino, Jr. (Santa Clara)...
WALK IT OFF!
The LMU baseball program has recorded four walk-off victories this year, most recently leaving Pacific on the field in the bottom of the ninth on 4/18...Kyle Dozier was the hero against the Tigers, delivering a two-out RBI-single into centerfield to bring home Ted Boeke and hand LMU a 5-4 victory...Ryan Erickson won the game against UNLV on 4/14, delivering a walk-off squeeze bunt with the bases loaded and one out to bring home Tanner Donnels...sophomore David Fletcher laced a two-out RBI-triple into the right field corner off of Santa Clara reliever Reece Karalus to score Austin Miller and hand LMU a 6-5 walk-off victory in 10 innings on 3/14...LMU also hobbled off with an unconventional 6-5 victory on 3/27 against Gonzaga, as freshman Billy Wilson drew a one-out bases-loaded hit-by-pitch in the bottom of the 10th inning to win the game...the Lions managed two walk-off victories during the 2014 season...
POWER SURGE
The LMU baseball program has slugged 30 home runs through 52 games this year, including 26 in the last 39 overall...the number may not stand out in the crowd amongst national leaders, but it is a drastic shift in direction for the LMU program itself, and is second in the WCC...the Lions hit just 10 home runs in 56 games played last year after becoming the last team in Division I baseball to homer while managing only four in 51 games in 2013...the final game of a three-game series against Arkansas on 3/8 saw LMU nearly double its home run total to that point (five to nine), as LMU hit four homers in a single game for the first time since 4/21/10 at UC Riverside...David Fletcher (solo HR), David Edwards (2R HR), Sean Watkins (2R HR) and Tanner Donnels (3R HR) accounted for eight of LMU's nine runs in a 9-0 shutout of the #20 Razorbacks...Donnels, who has also registered a two-homer game at Pepperdine on 3/22, leads the way with six home runs, followed by Edwards and Watkins with five, and Jimmy Jack, Ted Boeke and Austin Miller with three...Billy Wilson and David Fletcher each have two, while Chris Barnett has one...
HIT ME WITH YOUR BEST SHOT
Never afraid to wear a pitch to reach first base, LMU has recorded 84 hit-by-pitches over 52 games this year (1.62 per game)...the mark is sixth in the NCAA and fourth in LMU history...LMU's existing program record is 112 in 2000, followed by 93 in 1998 and 86 in 1986...Austin Miller has been hit 16 times to lead the way, while Billy Wilson has been hit 14 times...15 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 11 games this year...the five hit-by-pitches were the most for the Lions since recording five at Cal State Fullerton on 5/18/10...the Lions also recorded a walk-off hit-by-pitch in a 6-5 victory over Gonzaga on 3/27 in the bottom of the 10th (Wilson) ...
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
In its 33rd season as the home of Lion baseball in 2015, George C. Page Stadium also entered its second year under the lights...the 2015 LMU baseball schedule featured 31 of its 52 games played at home, including 23 under the lights...the Lions went 17-14 (10-14 under lights) at home in 2015...LMU went 20-10 at home last year, including 13-5 under the lights...the Lions played only one non-conference road weekend series during the regular season this year (Arkansas)...non-conference series featured games vs. San Jose State, Saint Joseph's and Nebraska, while WCC foes Santa Clara, Gonzaga, BYU, Pacific and USD all visited LMU...the Lions, who have posted a 534-400-4 (.571) overall record in the park's 33 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)...
SAVING THE DAY
Sophomore closer J.D. Busfield is one of 39 players listed on the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List...the honor, in its 11th year, will eventually be awarded to the top relief pitcher in NCAA Division I baseball...Busfield is one of three WCC pitchers on the list, joined by David Bigelow (Gonzaga) and Reece Karalus (Santa Clara)...the NCBWA will announce five finalists for the 2015 Stopper of the Year - the Division I national saves leader and four other relief pitching standouts - on Wednesday, June 3, prior to the start of NCAA Super Regional competition...the NCBWA's All-America Committee will select the winner, with this year's recipient to be announced during the 2015 College World Series...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 and Luke Prihoda of Sam Houston State winning it in 2007...Georgia's Joshua Fields topped the field in 2008, San Diego State's Addison Reed grabbed the honor in 2009 and Texas' Chance Ruffin earned the honor in 2010...the Longhorns' Corey Knebel won in 2011 with Southeastern Louisiana's Stefan Lopez picking up the honor in 2012...UCLA's David Berg, who is on this year's list, was crowned the winner in 2013, while Louisville's Nick Burdi took home the 2014 honor...
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 65 of his last 80, and 68 of the last 84 dating back to 2014...the native of Cypress, Calif. has also reached in 37 of his last 41 games, 62 of his last 67 (25 game streak ended on 3/1 vs. Nebraska), and 74 of the last 80, overall...while Fletcher has only failed to reach five times this year, senior Tanner Donnels is right behind him having reached in 44 of LMU's 52 games this year...
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...
BROWN ON THE BENCH
Sophomore Cassidy Brown was named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List, it was announced by The Greater Wichita Area Sports Commission on March 11...75 catchers were nominated for the award, presented by BaseballSavings.com, by their coaches, but because the award is given annually to the top Division I collegiate catcher, the list was updated to include other candidates until May 4...the list was then narrowed down to the semifinalists on May 14, as Brown was not listed...
WELL DONE WELMON
Senior Colin Welmon earned Rawlings West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week on April 27 for his efforts in his start at Portland on April 24...Welmon tossed his fourth career complete game shutout, blanking Portland over nine innings in a 4-0 LMU victory...the complete game was the seventh of his career and the first of 2015...Welmon allowed six hits and two walks over the nine frames, striking out eight and throwing 112 pitches to record the victory and move to 4-5 on the season...the native of Tustin, Calif. had to work through a pair of jams to record the shutout, including escaping a bases-loaded and one-out situation in the third...the weekly selection is the second of the year for LMU, as Tylor Megill earned the honor on February 23, and Welmon's fourth in his career after being honored once as a freshman and twice last year...
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...
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, 9.5-9...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
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...
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...
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 four career complete-game shutouts, including one this year, and seven 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 third shutout came on 5/16/14 at Pacific (5 H | 4 K | 99 Pitches), while his most recent came on 4/24 of this year at Portland (6H | 2 BB | 8 K | 112 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 has had one former basd1eball player in the Major Leagues in 2015, as C.J. Wilson (Los Angeles Angels) is currently in his 11th 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, four other former Lions have played in the Minor Leagues in 2015...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 
