Loyola Promotes Its Record in At-Large Bid for Baseball Regionals

Loyola Marymount is one of several dozen teams around the country awaiting an at-large invitation to the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. baseball regionals that will be announced Monday.

But the Lions, who haven’t seen action since May 7, aren’t just playing the waiting game. In a ploy similar to that being used by several Pacific-6 teams, the Lions are lobbying members of the NCAA selection committee.

It’s not that the Lions are begging for scraps. With a 37-22 record and one of the top offenses in the country, the Lions are ranked 18th in one national poll and 21st in the other. In mid-April they ran off a 13-game winning streak and they’ve played one of the toughest schedules on the West Coast.

Barry Zepel, Loyola sports information director, has sent a memo to committee members, which points out that “since the opening two weeks of the season . . . the Lions have posted a record of 36-15. . . . Versus NCAA Division I competition (Loyola) has a record of 35-21, having played just three games against non-Division I.”

The memo also includes an impressive breakdown of the Lions’ tough schedule:

Against Fresno State, ranked sixth nationally, Loyola swept a two-game series.

Against Long Beach State, ranked 12th, Loyola split four games, winning the last two at Long Beach.

Against UCLA (unranked), the Lions swept two games and have won 11 straight over last four seasons.

Against Santa Clara, they won three of four. Santa Clara, a 40-game winner for two straight seasons, has victories over Stanford, Cal and San Jose State. (That bolsters the Lions’ strength of schedule, which carries weight with the NCAA.)

The NCAA also likes teams that are playing well at the end of the season. Loyola’s memo points out: “During April, (Loyola) posted a record of 19 wins and only four losses. The West Coast Athletic Conference had three teams in the Top 20 (Loyola, Pepperdine, Santa Clara) with two weeks to go in the season.”

And, finally, the Lions hope history is on their side: “Last year the WCAC had three teams in the NCAA postseason tournament, with one advancing to the regional semifinals and another advancing to the regional finals. Loyola went to the College World Series in 1986 and to the Midwest Regional in 1988.”

One might say the Lions deserve a spot--at least writefully.

Well-Armed: The Cal State Dominguez Hills baseball and softball teams went in opposite directions this spring, but both featured record-setting pitchers.

Although the baseball team finished in last place in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. with a disappointing 16-29-2, senior right-hander Rick Davis’ timing was right. In the Toros’ final game Saturday against Cal State Northridge, Davis was brought in from the bullpen for a shot at the CCAA strikeout record. He fanned the Matadors’ Greg Shockey on a 3-2 pitch with two out in the ninth inning to set the record of 171 season strikeouts. He also protected a 9-6 lead as the Toros ended on a high note. Davis’ strikeout mark broke the 19-year record of 170 set by Mark Wiley of Cal Poly Pomona.

Davis broke four other team records: strikeouts in a game (14 vs. Master’s College), complete games in a season (11), innings pitched in a season (145 2/3) and shutouts in a season (three).

Davis and third baseman Ruben Jauregui were named to the CCAA all-conference first team. Jauregui, who played two years at Dominguez Hills after transferring from El Camino College, set a team mark for highest career average (.374).

The Lady Toros softball team finished its most successful season over the weekend, bowing out of the NCAA regionals with a record of 35-22-1. Senior pitcher Denise Biller was in the forefront, finishing with five school records. The right-hander graduates with the most career victories (49), appearances (119), innings pitched (726 2/3), shutouts (29) and strikeouts (285, tie with 1986 graduate Barb Steffen).

Dominguez Hills Athletic Director Dan Guerrero has been appointed by the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. to a three-year term on its Committee on Committees. The committee primarily presents nominees for vacancies on all the NCAA men’s sport committees. Guerrero, one of three Division II appointees, will be the District VIII representative. The rest of the committee includes six Division I athletic directors and three from Division III.

Signings Update: The Loyola Marymount women’s basketball team has signed point guard Trish McDonough of Havertown, Pa. McDonough, a 5-foot-9 point guard, led the Philadelphia area in assists last season and is the girls’ career assist leader at the Academy of Notre Dame, where she was a four-year starter.

McDonough joins 6-2 center Joell Coltrane from Lake Oswego High in Oregon and 5-11 forward Carrie Taylor from Mission Prep High in San Luis Obispo, both preseason signees, as Coach Todd Corman’s recruits. They bolster a Loyola team coming off its best season ever at 17-11 and losing only one starter to graduation.

At Dominguez Hills, soccer Coach Marine Cano announced four signings for the women’s team: Jennifer Grasso, a midfielder out of Bonita High School in Chula Vista; Deonna Collins, a defender from Dana Hills High in Dana Point, and twins Amy and Anna Rubin out of Hawthorne High. Grasso and Collins are members of the state under-19 select team. Amy Rubin was an All-CIF forward for Bay League champ Hawthorne while Anna was an All-CIF defender. They join a solid core of returning players from last year’s Lady Toro squad that was rated 12th nationally in Division II.

College Notes

Miah Bradbury’s 30 doubles this season set a West Coast Athletic Conference record. Other WCAC baseball records were the 75 runs scored by Santa Clara second baseman Ed Giovanola, the 188 career runs batted in by Santa Clara catcher Troy Buckley and the 84 career pitching appearances by San Diego’s Tony Battilega . . . Bradbury’s 54 career doubles are also a conference mark . . . At the Lions baseball banquet, Bradbury was named team Most Valuable Player, and senior Kalani Bush was chosen Most Valuable Pitcher. Kevin Van de Brake was named Most Improved, Mike Testa Most Inspirational and Joe Ciccarella Freshman of the Year . . . The team’s Mule of the Year award went to Testa and Rich Tricarico. The Bullpen Club’s Mule of the Year was pitcher Brian Clancy. At Loyola that’s a complimentary title, symbolizing toughness and hard work . . . On the Dominguez Hills softball team, Maria Romero set school season records for RBIs (27) and doubles (eight) and Dina Graham broke the mark for runs scored (32) . . . Former Loyola and Santa Ana High baseball star Billy Bean was named one of the top three outfielders on The Times 20-year All-Orange County team. Bean, who set Loyola career records for hits, is playing for the Detroit Tigers Triple-A team in Toledo . . . Loyola’s women’s lightweight eight shell placed second last weekend at the Pacific Coast Rowing Regatta in Sacramento. They were edged by Washington State, 7:36 to 7:37. Loyola, coached by Laurie Pawinski, will be in the lightweight four at the nationals June 4-5 in Madison, Wis. . . . The lightweight eight crew consists of Julie Hackworth, Kellie Farley, Katie Burke, Jill Collins, Ann Pavkin, Alex Elliot, Christine Renola, Mary Huffman and coxswain Jessica Perez. Hackworth, Farley, Burke and Huffman, with Perez, will make up the lightweight four. Hackworth, a senior, has been chosen for the U.S. National Team development camp.