Loyola Will Face Powerhouse Pepperdine in Weekend Series

Loyola Marymount University’s baseball team plays a big weekend series against West Coast Athletic Conference leader Pepperdine, hosting the Waves at 2:30 p.m. Friday, then playing a noon double-header Saturday at Malibu. Loyola, 21-22, is in third place in the WCAC at 8-7. Pepperdine, ranked eighth in the country at 37-8-1, is the runaway WCAC leader at 15-3.

Loyola continues to batter opponents, hitting .329 and improving that to .359 in WCAC games. Outfielder Billy Bean, coming off an 8-for-14 weekend including an eight-RBI game against San Francisco, leads the conference with a .411 average (.467 in conference) and tops the Lions with 5 homers, 50 RBIs and a .632 slugging percentage. Outfielder Reggie Lambert is next at .393 (.500 in conference), followed by first baseman Mike Whitt at .384, infielder Chris Donnels at .355 and catcher Jim McAnany at .333. Right-hander Tim Layana improved his record to 7-7, 4-2 in conference, with a complete game over USF.

Cal State Dominguez Hills and Cal Poly Pomona, front-runners in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. baseball race, face off three times this week, with a 2:30 p.m. game Friday at Pomona and a noon double-header Saturday at Dominguez Hills. The teams also play again Wednesday. Dominguez Hills entered the week ranked fifth among the nation’s Division II schools with a 27-17 record, 13-5 in the CCAA. Pomona, also 13-5, came in at 21-21-1 but plays all its nonconference games against Division I teams.

Toros first baseman Kevin Whalen continues to lead the team at .373 with 36 runs batted in and 5 home runs. Outfielder Andy Fiamengo is the hottest Toro, owning a school record 12-game hitting streak to lift his average to .328 with 36 RBIs, 10 doubles and 9 homers. George Cordero, at .356, leads the team with 40 RBIs. Left-hander Jim Pena is 8-2 (5-1 in conference) and Richard Strong has set a school record with eight saves. However, the Toros will be without sophomore Jim Copley the rest of the season. Copley has a serious shoulder problem.

Loyola Marymount has named former Gonzaga University basketball coach Jay Hillock as an assistant to Jim Lynam. Hillock, 36, was 60-50 in four seasons at Gonzaga, a West Coast Athletic Conference mate of Loyola. He resigned this month. Hillock was 7-3 against Loyola. The Santa Barbara native said he wanted to return to Southern California. He has a bachelor’s degree from Gonzaga and a master’s from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

Women’s teams from four Southland colleges, including Loyola Marymount and UCLA, will compete in the annual Invitational Miller Cup Collegiate Women’s Open Eight Crew Race on Sunday beginning at the UCLA boathouse at Ballona Creek. The field includes UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Long Beach. Preliminary races begin at 2 p.m. Races include varsity eights, novice eights, varsity fours, lightweight fours and novice fours. Admission is free.

Harbor College plays at Santa Monica and El Camino is at Bakersfield, both at 1:30 p.m. today, in Metropolitan Conference baseball. Harbor, battling to defend its Metro title, set three school scoring records the last time it faced Santa Monica in a 24-3 victory. Harbor plays at Cuesta at noon Saturday in a nonconfernce game matching two of the state’s top-ranked teams.

Cal State Dominguez Hills’ women’s softball team, apparently out of contention in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. at 5-7, hosts Chapman College in a 1:30 p.m. double-header today. The Lady Toros play a double-header at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at UC Santa Barbara, then host Cal State Northridge in a 2 p.m. double-header Monday, making up a rainout. The Lady Toros are 27-16 overall but dropped four league games last week.

Leuzinger and Mary Star have moved into their respective Top Tens in the latest CIF baseball rankings, with Redondo remaining fourth in 4-A. Leuzinger was rated ninth in 3-A while Mary Star reached eighth in 1-A, with St. Bernard fifth. In girls softball ratings, El Segundo was ousted as the top 1-A team, dropping to second behind Cabrillo. North Torrance is fifth in 3-A while Mary Star is ninth in 2-A.

Mira Costa’s boys remain the top-ranked team in the latest CIF volleyball coaches poll, with North Torrance fifth and Palos Verdes ninth, while Bishop Montgomery is seventh in 3-A. Miraleste remains atop the 4-A boys tennis ratings, with Palos Verdes third, South Torrance fourth and Mira Costa ninth.