LMU BASEBALL NOTES Page Stadium | One LMU Drive | Los Angeles, CA 90045 | www.LMULions.com | @LMULions @LMLionsBaseball | Baseball Contact: Tyler Geivett | tgeivett@lmu.edu | (310) 338-7638
LMU LIONS (9-12, 2-1 WCC) | #23 BYU COUGARS (18-2, 2-1 WCC) March 24-26, 2016 | Provo, Utah | Games 22-24 | Away 17-19
QUICK HITS ◊ LMU has won three straight games after dropping its previous six ... was the longest winless streak since dropping six straight from 2/18 - 3/1/14 ... averaged 2.17 runs per game and hit .202 over the losing streak ... is averaging just 4.05 runs per game this year ... has managed a 1.84 ERA (9 ER in 44 IP) over the last five games ... has used 21 different batting lineups in 21 games this year ... is picked to finish tied for third in the WCC Preseason Coaches’ Poll ... is picked fifth according to D1Baseball.com ... played in front of a crowd of 1,037 in home opener on 2/23 vs. #21 USC - the largest home crowd since at least 1998 ... began the year on the road for the first time since 2010 ... has been shut out five times this year, including in consecutive games twice (2/20 - 2/21; 3/11 - 3/12) ... prior to this year, LMU was last shut out in back-to-back games on February 9-10, 1985 ... did not play a non-conference home weekend series this year after playing just one non-conference road weekend series last year, and none in 2014 ... 33 wins last year were the most since recording 40 in 2000 (40-19) ... reached 30 wins for the fourth time in seven years under Gill ... has played for the WCC Championship the last two years (both losses to Pepperdine) ... last earned a WCC Championship and NCAA berth in 2000. ◊ TED BOEKE hit .375 (3x8) with three runs scored and two doubles against Portland after going hitless (0x16) over previous five games ... hit LMU’s first HR of the year on 2/23 vs. #21 USC (solo HR | B3) ... made it back-to-back games with a HR on 2/26 at SJSU. ◊ CASSIDY BROWN hit safely in 10 straight games from 2/21 - 3/6, including posting multiple hits in seven of the 10 (.500 (19x38) | 6 R | 4 2B | HR | 6 RBI) ... has posted four doubles, two homers and six RBI over the last 10 games ... batted .583 (7-for-12) with four runs scored, two doubles, a homer and five RBI in three games at SJSU ... was named to Johnny Bench Award watch list. ◊ JD BUSFIELD ranks third in the nation (first in WCC) in strikeout-to-walk ratio (31.00) and is third (tops in WCC) in walks-per-nine (.27) ... is a third team Louisville Slugger Preseason All-American according to Collegiate Baseball. ◊ NIKO DECOLATI is batting .538 (7x13) with a double, a homer and four RBI over his last five games ... is batting .364 (12x33) with two homers, two doubles, a triple and 13 RBI over his last 10 games. ◊ JASON GILL recorded his 200th victory as head coach of the Lions on 2/19 at #11 TCU ... now 208-198-1. ◊ AUSTIN MILLER hit safely in 11 straight games from 3/4 - 3/19 (.327 (16x49 | 5 R | 3B | HR | 3 RBI)) ... was tabbed a preseason All-WCC selection. ◊ MICHAEL SILVA was selected by the San Francisco Giants in the 25th round of the 2015 MLB Draft. ◊ JAMEY SMART is hitting .357 (5x14) with a homer over the last five games. ◊ SEAN WATKINS was tabbed a preseason All-WCC selection ... a freshman All-American as a utility player last year. THIS WEEK Having played only five of its 21 games at home this year, LMU will continue an eight-game stretch on the road this week ... the Lions opened the string on Tuesday at UC Irvine, defeating the Anteaters, 7-2 ... LMU will now travel to BYU for a threegame WCC series starting on Thursday ... all three games can be followed live online at LMULions.com, including a video stream courtesty of BYUtv on Thursday and Friday. LION TRACKS Junior Blake Redman tossed seven shutout innings with a career-best seven strikeouts as LMU defeated UC Irvine by a count of 7-2 on the road at Anteater Ballpark on Tuesday ... the right-hander allowed just five hits and one hit batter over the seven frames, ultimately moving to 2-3 on the year with the win ... junior Brenton Arriaga followed for LMU, surrendering a two-run homer to Keston Hiura in the eighth as the only blemish to LMU’s pitching line ... Hiura has now belted three of his six homers against the Lions ... although Hiura had the lone homer of the night, it was LMU’s offense that won out on Tuesday night, as the Lions scored seven runs on nine hits, including three doubles ... Austin Miller went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a double, while Cassidy Brown finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, an RBI and a double ... sophomore Jamey Smart was the final Lion with multiple hits, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. IT’S JUST A NUMBER LMU is 31-39-1 against ranked-opponents under head coach Jason Gill over his eight years as head coach ... the Lions are also 7-9 in weekend series over that span ... LMU is currently 1-4 against ranked-foes this season ... the Lions went 1-4-1 last year against such teams, with the lone victory coming in the series finale at #20 Arkansas on 3/8 ... LMU’s best record under Gill against ranked-teams came in his first year (2009) when the Lions went 9-2. WORKING IN THE ZONE LMU pitching has done well to force the opposition to swing the bats so far this year, walking just 47 hitters and hitting nine over 183 innings of work ... the walks-per-nine mark (2.31) is third in the nation, and is good for first in the WCC ... J.D. Busfield ranks first in the WCC and third in the nation (.27) in the category ... LMU’s strikeout-to-walk ratio of 2.74 is 30th in the nation and tops in the WCC ... Busfield (31.00) ranks first in the WCC and third in the nation in that category, with the leader being Andrew Lantrip of Houston (39.00).
DATE Thu., 3/24 Fri., 3/25 Sat., 3/26 Tue., 3/29
UPCOMING SCHEDULE | PROBABLE STARTERS
TIME 5:00 pm 5:00 pm 12:00 pm 6:00 pm
OPPONENT at BYU at BYU at BYU at USC
LMU PROBABLE RHP J.D. Busfield (1-1, 3.24 ERA) RHP Cory Abbott (2-2, 2.76 ERA) RHP Tyler Cohen (2-2, 3.12 ERA) TBA
OPPONENT PROBABLE RHP Mike Rucker (4-0, 2.67 ERA) RHP Maverik Buffo (4-0, 3.03 ERA) RHP Connor Williams (1-0, 3.09 ERA) TBA
2016 SCHEDULE
OVERALL: 9-12 | WCC: 2-1 | H: 2-3 | A: 7-9 | N: 0-0 Date Day Opponent Time/Result Feb. 19 Fri. at #11 TCU W, 5-3 Feb. 20 Sat. at #11 TCU L, 1-0 Feb. 21 Sun. at #11 TCU L, 5-0 Feb. 23 Tue. #21 USC L, 4-3 Feb. 26 Fri. at San Jose State W, 13-4 Feb. 27 Sat. at San Jose State L, 8-5 Feb. 28 Sun. at San Jose State W, 4-3 Mar. 1 Tue. UC Irvine L, 5-1 Mar. 4 Fri. at Florida International W, 5-4 (12) Mar. 5 Sat. at Florida International (G1) W, 10-3 at Florida International (G2) L, 6-0 Mar. 6 Sun. at Florida International W, 8-4 Mar. 11 Fri. at Nebraska (G1) L, 6-4 at Nebraska (G2) L, 7-0 Mar. 12 Sat. at Nebraska L, 3-0 Mar. 13 Sun. at Nebraska L, 5-4 Mar. 15 Tue. at #24 Long Beach State L, 6-4 Mar. 18 Fri. Portland * L, 3-1 Mar. 19 Sat. Portland * W, 8-1 Mar. 20 Sun. Portland * W, 3-0 Mar. 22 Tue. at UC Irvine W, 7-2 Mar. 24 Thu. at BYU * 5:00 p.m. Mar. 25 Fri. at BYU * 5:00 p.m. Mar. 26 Sat. at BYU * 12:00 p.m. Mar. 29 Tue. at USC 6:00 p.m. Apr. 1 Fri. at San Diego * 6:00 p.m. Apr. 2 Sat. at San Diego * 6:00 p.m. Apr. 3 Sun. at San Diego * 1:00 p.m. Apr. 5 Tue. UC Riverside 6:00 p.m. Apr. 8 Fri. San Francisco * 6:00 p.m. Apr. 9 Sat. San Francisco * 6:00 p.m. Apr. 10 Sun. San Francisco * 1:00 p.m. Apr. 12 Tue. at UCLA 6:00 p.m. Apr. 15 Fri. Pepperdine * 6:00 p.m. Apr. 16 Sat. Pepperdine * 6:00 p.m. Apr. 17 Sun. Pepperdine * 1:00 p.m. Apr. 20 Wed. at CSU Bakersfield 6:00 p.m. Apr. 22 Fri. at Pacific * 7:00 p.m. Apr. 23 Sat. at Pacific * 7:00 p.m. Apr. 24 Sun. at Pacific * 1:00 p.m. Apr. 25 Mon. Hawai’i 6:00 p.m. Apr. 26 Tue. CSU Bakersfield 6:00 p.m. Apr. 29 Fri. at Santa Clara * 6:00 p.m. Apr. 30 Sat. Santa Clara * 6:00 p.m. May 1 Sun. Santa Clara * 1:00 p.m. May 6 Fri. Saint Mary’s * 6:00 p.m. May 7 Sat. Saint Mary’s * 6:00 p.m. May 8 Sun. Saint Mary’s * 1:00 p.m. May 10 Tue. UC Riverside 6:00 p.m. May 13 Fri. Gonzaga * 6:00 p.m. May 14 Sat. Gonzaga * 6:00 p.m. May 15 Sun. Gonzaga * 1:00 p.m. May 17 Tue. Long Beach State 6:00 p.m. May 28 Sat. WCC Championships TBA May 29 Sun. WCC Championships TBA May 30 Mon. WCC Championships TBA * - WCC Game