ATHLETICS | The Loyola Marymount baseball team took the No. 1 team in the country, UCLA, to the final game of the NCAA Tournament’s Los Angeles Regional before falling. The West Coast Conference champion Lions finished their season with a 34-25 record.
LMU entered their first NCAA regional game since 2000 on Friday and got everything and more from starting pitcher Codie Paiva as he shut down the Bears offense in a 3-1 victory over No. 2 seed Baylor in the Los Angeles Regional. The No. 3-seed Lions went toe-to-toe with No. 1-seed UCLA at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Saturday night and pushed the Bruins to the elimination bracket with a 3-2 victory and were one win away from reaching the super regionals for the first time in team history. Following a 6-1 setback on Sunday night, the Lions and Bruins played again Monday night in a winner-take-all showdown. The Lions season unfortunately came to an end with a 6-3 loss, finishing LMU memorable run.
In women’s water polo, Hana Vilanova is now a two-time All-America selection for LMU women’s water polo, the ACWPC announced on Thursday. After earning a spot on the Honorable Mention team as a junior, Vilanova was recognized as a third team All-American as a senior. In addition, senior Morgan Molloy and GCC Newcomer of the Year Marialena Seletopoulou were each recognized as Honorable Mention All-Americans.
For the second-straight season, the West Coast Conference will play a 16-game conference schedule in men’s basketball. On Thursday, the WCC announced that LMU will play home and away games next season with Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s, BYU, Pepperdine, San Francisco, Pacific, and Portland. The Lions will also host USD, but will not travel to San Diego, and will play at Saint Clara but not host the Broncos. The 2020 West Coast Conference Basketball Championships will take place March 5-10 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Lions softball head coach Sami Strinz-Ward has announced that Brooke Vines has signed to play softball with the Lions next season. Vines will be coming to LMU as a graduate transfer from the University of Tennessee, where she was named to the NFCA Division I All-Southeast Region Second Team and All-SEC second team her sophomore season.
