Hot-Hitting Rick (Medfly) Mediavilla Is a Pest Who Bugs Loyola’s Foes : College baseball: The Lions’ leadoff man is batting .410 and gets on base nearly half the time.

His teammates call him Medfly , which suits center fielder Rick Mediavilla as well as any of the nicknames that have been heard around Loyola Marymount’s dugout over the years.

Consider:

* He’s a pest. Mediavilla, Loyola’s leadoff man, has reached base 46% of the time this season. He has already scored 62 runs.

* He’s an import. After playing his first two years of college baseball in Colorado and Arizona, this is Mediavilla’s first season on the West Coast.

* He’s rugged. On April 28, Mediavilla was hit in the face with a pitch in the first game of a double-header against the University of San Diego. He missed the second game, but was right back in the lineup three days later against Cal State Long Beach.

* He’s virtually impossible to stop. Mediavilla has hit safely in 47 of 54 games. In 32 of those games, he’s had two or more hits.

Mediavilla is batting .410, and his 98 hits are only six shy of the Loyola record, set in 1988 by Don Sparks.

Going into Sunday’s double-header against U.S. International, Mediavilla is exactly even with the school season batting average record, set by Reggie Lambert in 1985.

“Ninety-eight hits,” Loyola Marymount Coach Chris Smith said. “The guy can hit. Plus, he runs all over the outfield. He’s pretty much all that I could ask for.”

The 5-foot-10, 160-pound Mediavilla batted .405 during his sophomore season at Mesa Community College in Arizona and was offered a scholarship by Loyola’s West Coast Conference rival, Pepperdine.

But Pepperdine gave the scholarship to another player while Mediavilla was on a recruiting visit to Texas A & M.

Mesa Coach Roger Schmuck, an old friend of Smith’s, called the Loyola coach to tout his prospect.

“He said Rick was a leadoff-type hitter, played an excellent center field, he could run, he could hit . . . right on down the list,” Smith said. “I couldn’t believe a guy that good was actually available. It was almost too good to be true.”

Mediavilla was exactly what Smith needed. Although Mediavilla was on the East Coast playing summer ball with Brewster of the Cape Cod League, Smith didn’t wait around. He offered Mediavilla a scholarship, sight unseen.

Smith has had a grin on his face every game since he put Mediavilla into the lineup. In fact, the beaning Mediavilla took two weeks ago at San Diego was the only way to get him out of the lineup.

Loyola was trailing, 2-1, in the ninth, when Mediavilla attempted to bunt.

He twisted to dodge a pitch from San Diego reliever Tom Cheek, but was hit on his left cheekbone. Mediavilla’s face swelled badly, and he was taken to Sharp Hospital in San Diego for X-rays.

Mediavilla did not suffer a fracture, but was left with an ugly bruise.

“It adds a little color to my face,” he said.

Mediavilla’s determination has helped the Lions (41-13), ranked No. 9 in the nation, to a 3 1/2-game lead over Pepperdine in the conference standings.

“Rick might not be a big, strong guy, but he knows how to play baseball,” Smith said. “Maybe he can’t crush the ball, but he can make people do things they’re not comfortable doing. He can put pressure on the other team with his feet alone.”

Mediavilla often turns infield choppers into base hits.

“Coach Smith told me my role was to hit the ball hard on the ground to give myself a chance to beat it out,” Mediavilla said. “Going in, he figured I’d be the catalyst of this group.”

Mediavilla leads the team in stolen bases with 15 in 20 attempts. In high school in 1987, he was caught only twice in 76 attempts, but he is not running as much at Loyola.

That’s because the batters behind him--shortstop Chris Gomez, first baseman Joe Ciccarella, catcher Miah Bradbury, and left fielder Tony Kounas--are all hitting above .300.

“I get the green light, but a lot of times I decide not to go,” Mediavilla said. “Sometimes the pitcher gets so concerned about me that Chris or the other guys get good pitches to hit. So I can actually help us out by staying on first rather than stealing.”

Mediavilla played a different role as a freshman at Colorado State, a Division I school not known for the quality of its baseball program. Mediavilla was called upon to supply power out of the No. 5 spot in the order.

That year, Mediavilla led the Rams in runs batted in with 56, batted .327, and hit nine home runs.

But Mediavilla was unhappy as Colorado State finished 17-35.

“I had a really hard time dealing with the losing attitude some of my teammates had,” Mediavilla said. “Instead of going out on the field expecting to win, they were going out there hoping to win.”

So Mediavilla transferred to Mesa, allowing him to keep the year of Division I eligibility.

When he arrived at Loyola, Mediavilla wasn’t sure what to expect.

“It’s such a successful program here that I wasn’t sure if I would fit in,” Mediavilla said. “I was a little skeptical of my abilities, coming from a school without all the national exposure and national-quality talent they have here.”

Any doubts his new teammates might have had were quickly erased. Six games into the season, Mediavilla had his first four-hit game.

In a double-header Saturday against Santa Clara, Mediavilla had eight hits in nine at-bats. Five of them came in the second game.

Mediavilla has collected five hits in a game twice, four hits in a game twice, and three hits in a game 12 times.

Mediavilla, a junior, has had some early contacts from professional scouts and might be selected in June’s amateur draft.

But Mediavilla, a psychology major who was an academic All-American at Rampart High in Colorado Springs, Colo., would have to weigh an education against turning professional.

“I hope I eventually get a chance to play baseball on the next level,” Mediavilla said. “I’m also aware that my lack of size could be something that might hold me back. But I’d consider it if I do get drafted.”

But Mediavilla’s main goal is to help Loyola into the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., for the first time since 1986.

“I just want to do my job--hit the ball on the ground and get on base,” Mediavilla said. “Anything else--the hits or batting average--that’s all secondary to getting to Omaha.”