ATHLETICS | The Lions softball team opened their season with a strong showing at the Titan Classic. Hannah Bandimere and junior Samantha Manti had a dominating weekend at Cal State Fullerton, as both pitchers went 2-0 on the weekend, leading to the Lions’ 4-0 sweep. The pitchers led the Lions to their first 4-0 start since 2016. The team is currently the only undefeated team in the West Coast Conference, and makes its home debut Thursday at 2 p.m. at Smith Field.
The women’s basketball team also picked up a sweep this week, taking a pair of road games. LMU won Thursday night after beating Santa Clara, 69-60, and then won their fourth consecutive game with a 73-66 victory at San Francisco.
Chelsey Gipson was named the WCC Women’s Basketball Player of the Week, announced by the conference on Monday. The sophomore led the Lions in points in both games, with 25 against Santa Clara and 27 against USF, averaging 26 on the week. The guard also set her career high in assists against Santa Clara with seven. Gipson and the Lions will be back at Gersten on Friday to host the PCH Cup at 7 p.m. Tickets are still available.
The men’s basketball team has their biggest home week of the season this week, as well. On Saturday night at Portland, LMU beat the buzzer to level the score going into halftime, then outscored the Pilots by 18 in the second half to win, 72-55. This week, the Lions host Gonzaga on Thursday night for an ESPN2 national broadcast national broadcast. Featuring the Amazing Sladek at halftime and an Iggy Valentine’s bobblehead giveaway, this is a game you won’t want to miss. Limited tickets remain.
The men’s team returns to action Saturday for a 1 p.m. Family Weekend game against BYU. In addition to the matchup with the Cougars, LMU Athletics Hall of Fame Class will be recognized at halftime prior to their induction that evening.
The baseball season begins this weekend with a road series at UC Santa Barbara. The Lions will play a three-game set against the Gauchos. When the team returns home, single game tickets can be purchased for as little as $9 in the general admission section. A ticket in the reserved seating section can be secured for $14. The 2019 slate, announced by 11th-year Head Coach Jason Gill, will feature 53 games, including 26 to be played at LMU’s Page Stadium. The Lions will host regional-qualifier St. Louis University, Pac-12 schools Washington State, USC and UCLA, and welcome Gonzaga to Page Stadium for a three-game series. The conference has named infielder Nick Sogard to the WCC All-Preseason team last week as well.
In baseball alumni news, the New York Mets invited former Loyola Marymount standout Colton Plaia to their big league camp this spring. Plaia, initially drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft elected to return to LMU for his senior season and was subsequently drafted by the Mets in the 2013 Amateur Entry Draft.
The WCC will induct its 11th annual Hall of Honor class on Saturday, March 9, at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ten individuals, one from each member institution, will be honored as part of the 2019 University Credit Union West Coast Conference Men’s and Women’s Basketball Championships in Las Vegas. The 2019 induction class features one NCAA statistical champion, one NCAA National Athlete of the Year, two Olympians, two NCAA record holders, three individuals amassing five Academic All-American honors, five individuals collecting a combined seven conference MVP honors and six individuals compiling a combined 20 All-American citations. Representing LMU will be seven-time All-American in cross country and track, Tara (Erdmann) Welling.
This season’s track team opens their spring this Saturday at the Pomona-Pitzer All-Comers meet in Pomona, California.
It’s conference championships time! LMU swim team is competing in the PCSC Championships in La Mirada from Feb. 13-16 this week.
Golf is back in action and currently competing at the Farms Invitational. Held at the Farms Golf Club on Feb. 11-12 in Rancho Santa Fe, California, the tournament features nine schools. Live scoring can be followed here.
In a field that featured 13 ranked teams, the Loyola Marymount women’s water polo team (3-5) placed eighth overall. LMU advanced to Sunday’s winner’s pool and then faced ranked Arizona State and UC Davis. The Lions return to La Jolla for a single game on Friday and face the UC San Diego Triton at 6 p.m.
The Loyola Marymount men’s tennis team picked up its first win of the season on Saturday, as the team beat New Mexico, 4-3, at home. The Lions had to cancel their second match of the weekend due to rain. LMU will try to reschedule with UNLV for a later time, and face Oregon in Eugene this Sunday.
The women’s tennis team will try to fight off the weather this weekend and get their match in on Saturday at 10 a.m. against Arkansas at the LMU Tennis Center.
The Loyola Marymount men’s rowing team battled mother nature and UC Irvine in a Dual Race across a 2000m course on Saturday, Feb. 9. The race against UCI marked the first competition of 2019 for the men’s rowing team. The LMU men’s rowing team next faces UCLA on Friday, Feb. 15 then taking a break from the water before facing off against UCI again at the Newport Regatta on March 24th. The women’s team competed in a scrimmage against USC this past Saturday.
