COLLEGES : Even in Defeat, Lions Know ‘They Belong’ With Best

In what turned out to be Coach Dave Snow’s swan song, Loyola Marymount did not exit without a fight from the NCAA baseball regionals at Oklahoma State.

Playing their fourth tournament game Sunday, against Oklahoma State--perhaps college baseball’s most dominant team in the 1980s--the Lions and Cowboys hooked up in a classic that came down to the last at-bat. Loyola bowed, 8-6, in a game that featured six lead changes and three ties and earned the Lions a standing ovation from the Cowboy fans.

Lions players seemed surprised they had lost, even to the nation’s top-ranked team. “We were comfortable, we just felt we needed a few more runs. We’ve been in that situation before and usually won it,” said Lions slugger Don Sparks.

Loyola went into the tournament with pitching problems because freshman Mike McNary, a nine-game winner, developed biceps tendinitis and wasn’t available as Loyola played four games in three days. But the Lions defeated Arkansas behind a strong effort by Steve Surico and eliminated McNeese State on a complete-game five-hitter by Mike Jones.

Long reliever Terry Seward, who had control problems in Saturday’s loss to Wichita State, came back the next day to pitch five strong innings against Oklahoma State, only to wind up the hard-luck loser when the Cowboys scored three times in the bottom of the eighth before ace reliever Darryl Scott put out the fire. “Seward gave us an outstanding performance. He gave us a chance to win the game,” said Snow. “We just came up short.”

The Lions didn’t go down quietly in the ninth. Travis Tarchione hit a one-out single and was on first when Miah Bradbury smashed a wicked line drive off the shoulder of Cowboys pitcher Randy Rivera. The ball ricocheted to second base and was turned into an easy force for the final out. Had the ball bounced differently, the Lions could have had two on with leading home run hitter Brian Turang at bat.

If the Lions didn’t win the game, they won the respect of Cowboys Coach Gary Ward, whose team was gunning for its eighth straight College World Series appearance.

“We didn’t do a very good job of stopping them,” Ward said. “We couldn’t afford to make a lot of moves because we knew they had Scott in the pen, so I wanted to save my left-handed hitters. I thought we could do a better job against Seward.”

The mercurial nature of the ending wasn’t lost on Ward, who noted, “There are a lot of variables in baseball you can’t control. They lost on a rocket that deflects into a force. In the first inning they have a man on third and a guy hits a rocket (to shortstop for an out).

“You pay the price all year to win. I don’t think college athletes think much about losing. We’re considered an unemotional team. We hit a home run, it’s no big deal (the Cowboys hit nearly 150 this season). We work on it 10 months, we’re supposed to hit home runs. You work on the things you can control. The goal is consistency.

But Snow and the Lions made one thing clear: “We proved we belong,” Snow said. “We’ve got a good ballclub.”

Loyola’s final baseball statistics show several team records were set, most notably in season hits. Third baseman Don Sparks, who batted .405, set a mark with 105 hits. Outfielder Travis Tarchione finished with 102. They’re the only Lions ever to reach triple figures in a season. The old mark of 92 was set by Scott Stout in 1982. Sparks also had the second-best season total for runs batted in with 79. In the four-game regional, Sparks had 3 home runs and 11 runs batted in. Sophomore pitcher Darryl Scott set a season record for saves with 13.

Former Morningside High basketball star Elden Campbell has been named to Olympic Coach John Thompson’s select team that will tour Europe before Thompson makes his final cuts for the Olympic team. Campbell, a 6-11 center who recently completed his sophomore season at Clemson, is one of 30 players who will play in Austria, Spain, France and Finland in the last two weeks of June. The players will then return to Georgetown University where Thompson will make the final cut to 12 players and 2 alternates. Campbell’s competition at center includes Navy star David Robinson and high school phenom Alonzo Mourning.

College Notes

Loyola’s Don Sparks was drafted by the New York Yankees in the fifth round Wednesday, and outfielder Enoch Simmons, who also plays basketball, was selected by the Oakland A’s in the fourth round. . . . Loyola Marymount is well represented in the fledgling World Basketball League. Former Lions guards Keith Smith and Chris Nikchevich are playing for Vancouver and forward Jeff Moore is with the Fresno entry. . . . In awards at Cal State Los Angeles, sophomore Debbie Higa (North Torrance High) was named women’s tennis most valuable player, sophomore long jumper Ana Marie Ralph (Redondo) was chosen most improved on the women’s track team and junior hurdler Darryl Gilliams (El Camino College) was named most valuable runner in men’s track. . . . John Gerrard, an assistant soccer coach at Cal State Dominguez Hills, finished the semipro season as the leading scorer of the Greater Los Angeles Soccer League. Gerrard, who plays for the San Pedro Yugoslavs, scored 24 goals in 19 games.