Following the most successful baseball season in many years for Loyola Marymount University, two Lions earned additional post-season honors while their head coach announced his departure.
Senior pitcher Codie Paiva and junior infielder/outfielder Trevin Esquerra were named to the 2019 American Baseball Coaches Association/Rawlings Division 1 West Region second team. Paiva was previously named West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year and leaves LMU with the second lowest ERA in team history at 2.65 (behind Bill Barnett's 2.63.), while Esquerra led the Lions in batting average, homeruns and RBIs, and was named All-WCC second team.
Meanwhile, head coach Jason Gill has stepped down after 11 seasons to accept the head coaching job at USC. Under Gill's guidance, 64 Lions earned All-WCC honors, 31 were selected in the MLB Draft, 35 were named to the WCC All-Academic team, and the 2019 team won the WCC Tournament, qualifying for NCAA Regional play.
Fall schedules announced
Three fall sports programs have announced their schedules for their 2019 seasons:
Women’s volleyball opens Aug. 17 at Gersten Pavilion with an exhibition match against Cal State Long Beach, followed by its annual Alumni Match Aug. 24. The Lions also participate in four early-season tournaments before WCC play starts Sept. 26 against Santa Clara. Last season, the Lions were 21-10, 10-8 in WCC play, and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Men’s soccer begins the 2019 season on Aug. 24, hosting an exhibition match against UC Santa Barbara at Sullivan Field, then plays its official home opener Aug. 30 against Virginia Tech. The team’s first six matches are at home, including a Sept. 8 meeting with Loyola of Chicago, and its first WCC match is at home Oct. 12 against Gonzaga.
Women’s soccer’s first match is an Aug. 16 exhibition contest at UCLA. LMU then travels to Pittsburgh for its season openers against Pitt Aug. 23 and Duquesne Aug. 25, before playing its first of nine matches at Sullivan Field against San Jose State on Aug. 29. The Lions’ WCC season begins at home Oct. 5 against Pacific.
Mike Nelson is the former editor of The Tidings (predecessor of Angelus News).
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