The Loyola Marymount Lions, fresh off their 2019 West Coast Conference Tournament Championship, enter the Los Angeles Regional as the No.3 seed and will play in the first game of the NCAA Regional on Friday, May 31^stat 1:00 p.m. against the No. 2 seed Baylor Bears at UCLA's Jackie Robinson Stadium. 
 
LMU returns to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2000 when they made a string of three straight from 1998 through 2000. 
 
The Lions have a short history against the Bears having only played them in a three-game series in 2004. LMU however does have a history of going against the Bears head coach Steve Rodriguez. Rodriguez was at the helm of WCC rival Pepperdine for 12 seasons. His staff also includes former Wave and Lion Jon Strauss. Strauss was the Lions pitching coach and recruiting coordinator from 2003-05.
 
The Lions begin their trek to Omaha behind a roster that includes the reigning Pitcher of the Year in Codie Paiva and Defensive Player of the Year Nick Sogard. LMU also boasts Trevin Esquerra and Nick Frasso who were both announced as members of the WCC's All-Second Team and Brandon Shearer who was an Honorable Mention selection.  
 
Paiva, a staple in the Lions starting rotation, currently holds LMU's lowest ERA in team history at 2.60 three points better than Bill Barnett's ERA of 2.63. His 2019 ERA of 1.71 is the lowest in a single season in team history, three points better than Corey Abbott's 1.74 ERA during the 2017 season.
 
Sogard became the fourth Lions to win the Defensive Player of the Year award and the second-straight for LMU following Cooper Uhl's recognition last season. Sogard has started all of LMU's 55 games at short and leads the team in assists and offensively he's batting over .300. He led the WCC in stolen bases and currently has the eighth most stolen bags in a single-season in team history.
 
Esquerra has been on tear in 2019 leading the Lions in almost every offensive category and has 16 of LMU's 22 home runs this season. He's also amassed a team-high 24 multi-hit games to go along with 18 multi-RBI contests.
 
Frasso, has been incredible when he takes the hill. He's holding opposing batters to an average of .168 and leads the team in saves with eight. His 47.0 innings worth of work on the mound has yielded 63 strike outs to just 14 walks. Coming out of the bullpen Frasso has been just as lethal, only allowing 14 hits while amassing 42 strikeouts in his over 26.0 innings.
 
Shearer, a starter in all 55 games for LMU this season at third, is in the top three in almost every offensive category for the Lions and is tied for second on the team in home runs.