ATHLETICS | LMU baseball took their opening series, two games to one, over the University of Washington Huskies. On Friday, the Lions jumped ahead early against the Huskies and never looked back giving head coach Nathan Choate his first victory of the season 7-1. After falling behind early against Washington on Saturday, the Lions put together a third-inning rally followed by run producing sixth and seventh frames that proved to be the difference in a 6-3 win. On Sunday, LMU held on to a one-run lead heading into the top of the ninth but surrendered a pair of runs to Washington and fell 4-3. The Lions next take the diamond on Tuesday, Feb. 18, in Jackie Robinson Stadium to take on the No. 8 UCLA Bruins with first pitch slated for 6 p.m. The Lions and Bruins faced each other five times last season with LMU pushing UCLA to the fifth and deciding game of the Los Angeles Regional. LMU will be back at Page Stadium this Wednesday to host Cal State Bakersfield for a midweek 6 p.m. game, before heading to Huntsville, Texas, for a weekend series at Sam Houston State.
The LMU softball team split on its first day of the Golden State 27 Tournament in Lake Elsinore, California, on Friday afternoon, as the Lions beat Sacramento State, 6-4, and fell to UC Davis, 12-11. The Lions went 1-1 on Saturday as well, as the team beat Seton Hall University, 6-4, but fell to Long Island University, 6-5, after forcing an eighth inning. LMU left Lake Elsinore with a win on Sunday afternoon, as the team made a fourth-inning comeback to beat University of Hawaii, 6-5. The Lions will head to San Diego to take on San Diego State University before making their 2020 home debut at Smith Field for the first weekend of the LMU Invitational.
With 18 points in Thursday’s game, LMU junior Eli Scott became the 36th Lion to reach the 1,000-point milestone. Scott led the team with a game-high sharing 18 points to hit 1,001 career points in his 83 career games. Similar to the first meeting between the two schools, LMU and BYU played a tight first half that ended with a five-point game after 20 minutes. In Thursday night’s edition of the rivalry, the Cougars hit 45 percent from three-point range to take the game, 77-54. In Saturday’s game against Santa Clara, a 9-0 run in the second half erased a four-point deficit and secured the road conference win for LMU men’s basketball. The Lions overcame 15 lead changes to beat the Broncos, 65-59. The road trip continues for LMU with two away games next week. The Lions play at Saint Mary’s on Thursday before heading to the Rose City for a game against Portland on Saturday night.
LMU women’s basketball player Jasmine Jones earned her eighth double-double of the season Saturday afternoon in the Lions’ 77-66 loss against Pepperdine. LMU will stay at home next week, as the team will host Portland and Gonzaga in Gersten Pavilion for the team’s final home games of the season.
Over the last four days, LMU women’s swimming team competed in the PCSC Conference Championships at the East Los Angeles College Natatorium. Competition began last Wednesday with the 1000 freestyle where LMU senior standout Lanna Kozlowski continued her outstanding season, placing fifth with a season best time of 10:27.96. Kozlowski stands as the fourth fastest in this event in LMU history. First-year student Lily Gallagher placed ninth with a 10:35.18, making the young first-year student’s the seventh fastest in program history. LMU finished in seventh place in the women’s team standing with 634 points with Cal State East Bay taking the women’s title with 1354.5 points followed by Pepperdine with 1311.5 and Biola University with 1018.
Lions men’s tennis players Keenan Mayo and Emin Torlic swept the WCC Men’s Tennis Weekly Honors, as Mayo was named singles player of the week, and the duo of Torlic and Mayo were named doubles team of the week. The team followed with its first road test of the season, dropping a 4-3 contest to Cal Poly on Saturday.
The LMU women’s tennis team picked up its second Pac-12 victory this season, as the Lions defeated the Utah Utes 4-2 at LMU Tennis Center on Sunday afternoon. LMU will next head to USC to take on USC on Feb. 29.
LMU had two top-10 finishers in last week’s Orange County Collegiate Classic. The second day of competition went in favor of the Lions, as LMU men’s golf completed their second and third rounds under 300. After a darkness-shortened first day, LMU closed out their second round with a 299 and followed with a final round 296 to jump into the top-half of the field. LMU’s team score of 313-299-296—908 was good for eighth in the field of 17. Competition will resume for the Lions on Feb. 22-24 from Goodyear, Arizona, for the Loyola Intercollegiate.
The beach volleyball season opens this weekend as LMU looks to defend their WCC crown. The Lions begin the year at UCLA this Thursday at 10 a.m., before playing St. Katherine and Vanguard on Friday during the day in Huntington Beach.
Women’s water polo continues their tournament schedule with the UC Irvine Invitational. The three-day meet features a top-field of 16 teams. Tickets are sold at both pools beginning an hour prior to the first game.
Women’s rowing takes on UC Santa Barbara for their home contest of the year. The dual will take place in Marina del Rey on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 9 a.m.
