NCAA Baseball Playoffs : Long Layoff Doesn’t Hurt as Loyola Wins, 8-3

Loyola Marymount hadn’t played since defeating Pepperdine, 10-7, in their final West Coast Athletic Assn. game 19 days ago, but the Lions didn’t appear to be rusty as they beat Arkansas, 8-3, in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional Friday at Stillwater, Okla.

Third baseman Don Sparks provided all the offense Loyola (47-16) needed, driving in 4 runs on 3 hits, including his 11th homer. He had a two-run double in the Lions’ four-run first inning and hit a two-run homer in the fifth.

Sophomore right-hander Steve Surico (12-2) pitched 7 innings, allowing 7 hits and 4 walks. Darryl Scott pitched 1 innings of perfect relief to earn his 13th save.

USC 9, Brigham Young 8--Freshman right-hander Jeff Cirillo blanked the Cougars on one hit while striking out six over the last three innings, and Rodney Peete drove in the winning run in the first round of the West I Regional at Fresno State.

The victory was USC’s first in postseason play since 1978, when the Trojans won the last of their 11 national championships. It is only USC’s second postseason appearance since then. The Trojans lost two straight in the 1984 West I Regional at Fresno.

Peete singled home the winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning after WAC champion BYU (41-17-1) had scored four runs in the top of inning to take an 8-7 lead. Shortstop Bret Barberie drove in three runs for USC (34-24).

CS Fullerton 6, Missouri 3--Keith Kaub hit two solo homers, and Greg Mannion added a three-run homer to lead the Titans (38-16) past the Tigers in the first round of the South Regional at Starkville, Miss.

Kaub led off the bottom of the fourth with his second homer of the game, his 18th of the year, to put the Titans ahead for good, 2-1. Later that inning, Mannion added his three-run homer to put the game out of reach, 5-1.

St. John’s 5, Stanford 3--Tom Singer limited the defending national champion Cardinal to 6 hits in 8 innings in the first round of the Northeast Regional at New Britain, Conn.

Singer picked three Stanford runners off base to kill rallies in the fifth and seventh.

Stanford 7, Fordham 5--The Cardinal stayed alive in the double-elimination tournament when Ron Witmeyer scored from third on a fielder’s choice to break a 5-5 tie in the bottom of the eighth inning.

Jack Hollis scored from third on a passed ball to add an insurance run for the Cardinal (38-22). Pinch-hitter Brian Dunphy struck out swinging with the bases loaded in the top of the ninth to end a Fordham threat.

Pepperdine 10, Oklahoma 1--Jim Doyle and Jalal Leach hit solo homers, and left-hander Doug Simons scattered eight hits as the Waves (35-22-1) routed the Sooners in a first-round game at the West II Regional at Tempe, Ariz., that started Thursday night and ended at 12:35 Friday morning.