Loyola Slugger’s .410 Mark Is a Record

Loyola Marymount teammates Billy Bean and Reggie Lambert waged a race against each other and the school’s baseball record book over the weekend. Call it a split decision.

Both were taking aim at Bob Sheldon’s 1979 season batting record of .404. Bean entered Sunday’s season-ending double-header batting .414 while Lambert went in at .411. Bean suffered one of his few poor outings of the season, going 1 for 8, while Lambert managed 3 for 8. Bean tumbled 11 points to finish at .403 while Lambert lost one percentage point but set the school record at .410.

There was good news for Bean as he batted in three runs to tie Brian Leighton’s year-old record of 67. Leighton set that mark in 59 games while Bean did it in 55.

Team home-run honors were shared by freshman Chris Donnels and sophomore Jim McAnany, who hit eight apiece.

Bean was named team most valuable player and captain by Coach Dave Snow. Junior Tim Layana was selected most valuable pitcher, infielder Damien Bonenfant most inspirational and utility man Jim Holleran most improved.

Lambert led the West Coast Athletic Conference in batting with an in-conference average of .505, a league record. He was 49 for 97 in 24 league games.

Baseball Commissioner Peter Ueberroth, addressing Loyola Marymount at its graduation ceremonies Saturday, told the Class of ‘85, “I wondered why I was qualified and selected to be the commencement speaker and it must have been because I graduated from college in the top 83% of my class.”

Ueberroth is a San Jose State graduate.

Signings: Loyola Marymount University’s new women’s basketball coach, Todd Corman, has signed high school all-stars Jennifer Osur of Foothill High in Santa Ana and Tracey Anderson of Pleasant Valley High in Chico. Osur, a 5-9 guard, averaged 19.3 points, 6.6 assists, 5.9 steals and 6 rebounds to earn CIF 3-A player of the year honors as well as an award as female athlete of the year for Orange County. She will play for the United States this summer in the Maccabiah Games in Israel. Anderson, a 5-8 guard, averaged 14 points, 7.1 assists and 5.8 steals to lead Pleasant Valley to a 28-0 record and the CIF Division II state title. She earned All-America honorable mention from USA Today.