Loyola Nine Will Face St. Mary’s Friday

Loyola Marymount opens play Friday in the new baseball division of the West Coast Athletic Conference, traveling to St. Mary’s in Moraga. The teams will also play a double-header Saturday before Loyola returns to host Oral Roberts in a non-conference game at 2:30 p.m. Monday. The Lions enter WCAC action with a 9-12 mark under first-year Coach Dave Snow. The team is hitting a robust .299 but opponents have batted .295, leaving Loyola pitchers with a 5.33 team earned-run average. Junior outfielder Billy Bean, with 23 hits in his last 45 at-bats, leads the Lions with a .397 average and is tied with freshman Chris Donnels for the lead in runs batted in with 21.

Cal State Dominguez Hills resumes California Collegiate Athletic Assn. baseball play Friday at UC Riverside, then hosts Riverside in a noon double-header Saturday. The Toros entered the week at 12-9, having won 11 of their last 14 games despite injuries to two of their four starting pitchers. Jeff Hines and Jim Copley, who had each pitched only once, are expected back this week. The Toros are 2-0 in the CCAA. Mike Brocki leads the Toros with a .456 average and 16 stolen bases while Fred Hanker (.329) tops the power categories with four home runs and 18 runs batted in. Junior pitcher Jim Pena is 4-1.

The Cal State Dominguez Hills women’s softball team hosts Cal State Bakersfield in a noon double-header today, then plays a noon double-header Saturday against defending national champion Cal State Northridge at Northridge. Both double-headers are California Collegiate Athletic Assn. games. The Lady Toros, 8-6 entering the week and 1-1 in the CCAA, host Cal State Hayward in a non-conference double-header Monday.

Loyola Marymount’s men’s volleyball team plays at Pepperdine at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in California Intercollegiate Volleyball Assn. action before playing five of its final seven matches at home.

Cal State Dominguez Hills sophomore Rena Wright qualified for the NCAA Division II national track meet with a high jump of 5-8 3/4 last weekend against Cal State Los Angeles. She also set school records in the 100-meter hurdles (15.9) and javelin (109 feet). Senior Jon Thomas also qualified for the national meet with a hand-timed 21.0 200-meter dash.

Florence Hutton of Harbor City scored a hole-in-one during Harbor Park’s Women’s Club golf day. The course manager said she aced the 136-yard par-3 eighth hole with a 5-wood.