Loyola Runs at 2-an-Inning Clip as USD Loses Sixth in Row, 18-2

For 3 1/2 hours Friday afternoon, the Loyola Marymount baseball team proved what a lot of people already knew--that it was quite a bit better than the University of San Diego.

The Lions, ranked No. 4 in the country, scored in every inning but two and ran around the bases at a pace that would have made the Loyola basketball team proud.

When everybody wearing a red-and-gray uniform was done running, Loyola had an 18-2 victory, and USD had its sixth consecutive loss.

The Toreros (17-20 overall, 2-7 in the West Coast Athletic Conference) have to hope that things are a bit different the rest of the weekend. The four-game series continues with a doubleheader at noon today and finishes with a single game Sunday at 1 p.m.

Friday’s game was finished early. By the time USD got its first hit, a double by Dave Rolls in the fourth inning, it trailed, 8-0.

John Cunningham, USD’s coach, decided he had seen enough in the first two innings and was thrown out of the game for arguing some ball-and-strike calls in the top of the third.

He wasn’t around afterward, but there wasn’t much to discuss anyway. Loyola (32-9, 5-0) is highly ranked and apparently deserves to be. The Lions, at least, can hit.

Friday, Loyola’s hitters managed 22 hits in 46 at-bats, nearly hitting .500 for the game, and of the 59 Loyola batters who came to the plate, 35 reached base in one way or another.

Dan Sparks, Loyola’s third baseman, had as many hits at USD did, going 5 for 7.

Catcher Miah Bradbury, who played at Mt. Carmel High School, had three hits and drove in the first two runs of the game in the first inning.

Loyola’s pitcher, Steve Surico, was in command all the way, allowing only Mark Trafton’s two-run single in the fifth.

USD, which had lost four of its past five games by blowing leads, never led in this one.

The Toreros trailed, 10-2, after eight innings, and to make things worse, watched as Loyola added eight unearned runs in the top of the ninth.

Before then, it had already been proved which team was best.