Do These Lions Have Heart? : On Eve of WCC Opener, Loyola Is Hopeful That the Best Is Yet to Come

With a new coach and a roster that consists mostly of freshmen and sophomores, it was almost predictable that the Loyola Marymount baseball team would start slowly this season.

But after a 2-7 start, the Lions are beginning to show signs of promise as they prepare to open West Coast Conference play today with a three-game series against the University of San Diego.

Loyola has won two games in a row--a 4-3 victory over 13th-ranked Cal State Long Beach on Feb. 18 and a 10-8 win over UC Irvine on Tuesday--to improve to 4-7. The Lions did not commit an error in either game.

“We were picked to finish fourth (in the conference) and I hope that’s not accurate,” Loyola Coach Jody Robinson said. “If you’re betting in Las Vegas, we don’t look as good as maybe some of the other teams. But then again, I don’t bet.”

Robinson said defending champion Pepperdine (8-4) appears to be the team to beat. The Waves have been ranked as high as fourth nationally.

“(Pepperdine) had one rough series against Stanford, but their play overall has been pretty good,” Robinson said.

“We think we can be a spoiler. Heck, we think we can win it. We’re all 0-0 right now, anyway.”

Robinson said Loyola’s development will depend greatly on the offense. With 14 hits against Irvine, the Lion batting average has improved to .266.

“We’re still not swinging (the bat) the way we hopefully will,” Robinson said. “We still need to get a few more runs. We’ve shown some positive signs in some of our games, but we haven’t shown it enough.”

The most promising offensive player for the Lions has been sophomore outfielder Chad Nichols, who ranks among the conference leaders with a .400 batting average, including three hits against Irvine.

Two other standouts have been junior designated hitter Darren Sugiyama, who is batting .317 and is tied for the team lead in home runs (two) and runs batted in (seven), and senior catcher Gerardo Perez, who has improved his average to .306 after a slow start.

But players such as infielders Anthony Napolitano and Jesse Ibarra and outfielder Matt Marks have been struggling offensively. Napolitano is hopeful that a turnaround is imminent after getting two hits against Irvine to improve his average to .184.

“I feel like I’m hitting the ball harder than in any stretch of my life,” Napolitano said. “You can look at it and say it has to get to get better. But I feel like I’m hitting the ball well. It’s just not falling in.”

Robinson is not overly concerned with the Lions’ pitching, despite a team earned-run average of 5.44.

“We feel like our pitching is OK,” Robinson said. “We have to play defense better, and until our last two games we hadn’t done that. We don’t have a staff that gets a lot of strikeouts and, if you don’t have a staff like that, it forces your defense to play well.”

The team’s most dependable pitcher has been Nichols, who is 1-1 with an 0.84 ERA and one save in five relief appearances.

“Nichols has really done a good job for us wherever he’s played,” Robinson said. “Offensively, he’s doing some good things. I’ve moved him around in the order and he’s done pretty well wherever we’ve put him. His pitching has also been outstanding, especially his last (three) outings.”

The most reliable starter has been freshman Shawn Hammett, who is 2-1 with a 3.46 ERA. Hammett is expected to be one of the starters in the San Diego series along with freshman Brian Fitzgerald and senior R.J. Kirkland.

Robinson is also hoping that the addition of junior Bob Noson, a transfer from Cerritos College who missed the early portion of the schedule because of a shoulder strain, will improve the pitching depth.

Robinson thinks the Lions’ best performances are ahead.

“We expect all of our players to mature,” he said. “It’s kind of like a (community college) team here. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores who haven’t played before.”

Robinson said his team still has a positive outlook.

“That’s the thing about being a young club,” he said. “They don’t lack for enthusiasm. That doesn’t always win games. But the basic thing is that because of our enthusiasm, we can control how hard we go at it and we do have a group of hard-working kids.”

Napolitano thinks the Lions will be able to turn around their season.

“How quickly we mature will be an indication of how well we do this season,” he said. “I feel like we’re starting to learn things like how to stay ahead when we’re winning and how to come from behind when we’re losing. You don’t learn things like that overnight.

“But the important thing is that we have a good attitude right now. We’re not overconfident, but we feel we can play with anybody.”