LMU to Face Oklahoma in Regionals

Picture this: Dave Snow, who took Loyola Marymount to two baseball regionals, and Chris Smith, who was Snow’s right-hand man, square off in Tucson with the winner advancing to the College World Series.

It could happen.

Loyola (37-22) will make its third appearance in four years in the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. baseball regionals today at noon at the University of Arizona against high-scoring Oklahoma (43-17).

Other opening-round games at Arizona’s Sancet Field are Cal State Long Beach (46-13) vs. Hawaii (40-25) at 4:30 p.m. and host Arizona (43-16) vs. Eastern Kentucky (38-17) at 7:30 p.m. This is one of eight six-team regionals nationwide. The eight regional winners advance to Omaha for next week’s World Series.

Snow coached Loyola to regional berths in 1986 and last year. Now he leads Long Beach, and his friend and protege, Smith, is at the Lions’ helm. If the teams play the way they’re seeded, No. 1 Arizona should face Oklahoma for the regional title. But this appears to be a competitive bracket, and with a double elimination format nearly any combination is possible. That raises the chance that Loyola and Long Beach might reach a position where one has to eliminate the other.

“That is a little unfortunate,” Smith said. “I want to win it, but if we don’t I would like to see (Snow) win it.” On the other hand, business is business. “At least we’re familiar with them,” Smith noted. “We played them four times and beat them the last two.”

The Lions and Pepperdine, the West Coast Athletic Conference’s representatives, appeared to get little respect from those seeding the teams. Pepperdine, the WCAC champion, was seeded fourth at Fresno. Loyola is seeded fifth at Arizona. “I was a little surprised that we were fifth behind Hawaii,” Smith said. “But it doesn’t really make much difference.”

On paper, the matchup of Loyola vs. Oklahoma appears to be a slugfest, with Oklahoma carrying a .336 average and scoring more than nine runs per game and Loyola hitting .316 and scoring seven per game. The Lions have an earned-run average of 4.14 while the Sooners’ is a generous 5.59. Sancet Field is 360 feet down the lines but 400 feet in the power alleys and dead center. However, if the weather is hot the ball carries well in Tucson. “It’s a good hitter’s park. The ball’s gonna fly,” Smith said.

The Lions will probably open with left-hander Steve Surico (7-5 with a 4.90 ERA) or lefty Jon Willard (2-0, 2.84 ERA), who has been the Lions’ best pitcher lately and may be able to nullify some of the Sooners’ left-handed power. Top winner Kalani Bush (10-2, 3.50) is also a possibility. Oklahoma will probably start left-hander Kevin King (8-3, 5.09) but could go with right-hander Jim Huslig (8-2, 3.91), who recently threw the Sooners’ first no-hitter in nine years, against Old Dominion.

If the Lions win today, they play in the winners bracket at 7:30 p.m. Saturday. If they lose their opener, they play in the losers bracket at noon Saturday.