Feb. 20, 2008

Complete Release in PDF Format

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - THIS WEEK

THE SCHEDULE
Games 1-5
LMU Lions at Sacramento State Hornets
Friday, Feb. 22, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. at Sacramento State's Hornet Field
Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008 at 11:00 a.m. at Sacramento State's Hornet Field
Saturday, Feb. 23, 2008 at 2:00 p.m. at Sacramento State's Hornet Field
Sunday, Feb. 24, 2008 at 1:00 p.m. at Sacramento State's Hornet Field

LMU Lions at Cal State Fullerton Titans
Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008 at 6:00 p.m. at Cal State Fullerton's Goodwin Field

LIONS' ALL-ACCESS
Check out LMU baseball on Lions' All-Access. LMU's Tyler Geivett and a host of other LMU broadcasters will have the call. Thanks to an agreement with CSTV, more than 150 LMU Athletics events will air live via the internet again this season. Every baseball game will be broadcast over the Internet free of charge on LMULions.com.

LMU ON THE WEB
Get the latest in LMU sports news via the official home of LMU athletics on the Internet. Visit www.LMULions.com 24-hours a day for scores, stats, features, photos and up-to date news releases on every intercollegiate sport. Listen live to all the action from Lions' All-Access and follow the game through GAMETRACKER.

BRIEFLY
LMU baseball opens the 2008 campaign this weekend when it visits Sacramento State for a four-game series starting on Friday. The Lions, and the rest of the college baseball, start on February 22 due to the new uniform start date that has been implemented in collegiate baseball. LMU will take on the Hornets at 2 p.m. on Friday, play a double-header starting on Saturday at 11 a.m. and finish with game-four at 1 p.m. on Sunday. After the four-game series with Sac State, the Lions will head to Fullerton, Calif. to take on perennial powerhouse, Cal State Fullerton, on Tuesday at 6 p.m.

HORNET SHORT HOPS
Sacramento State opens the 2008 season after finishing last year with a 17-40 overall record and a 10-14 record in the WAC. The conference mark earned them a sixth-place finish. This season, the Hornets return 16 total players, including six starting position players and two starting pitchers. A total of 21 newcomers have arrived on the campus in Sacramento, looking to improve on last year's numbers for Head Coach John Smith. Smith is in his 31st year at the helm of the team, and totes an 810-819-1 overall record for the program. Sac State returns three key field players in 2008, highlighted by a preseason Wallace Watch List member in junior Gabe Jacobo at first base. Jacobo led the Hornets in 10 offensive categories in 2007, including batting average (.363), slugging percentage (.623), runs scored (44), hits (81), RBI (44), doubles (12), home runs (14), total bases (139), sac flies (7), and stolen base percentage (10-12, .833). Senior David Flores, the starting third baseman for Sac State last season, also returns this season. Flores batted .311 in 2007 and was named first team All-WAC after collecting five home runs, 23 RBI and 90 total bases in 55 starts. This year, Flores and sophomore Tim Wheeler were already named to the Preseason All-Western Athletic Conference team. Joining Jacobo on the Wallace Watch List for Sac State is senior Ryan Blair. Blair finished 2007 ranked second on the team with a .316 batting average, while also collecting three home runs, 26 RBI and 18 stolen bases.

TITAN TIDBITS
Fullerton is returning 18 letter-winners and six position player starters coming off a 2007 campaign that saw them finish with a 38-25 overall record and a 10-11 Big West Conference schedule, tying their worst-ever performance in league. Despite their troubles in the Big West, the Titans managed to win some key series throughout the year, and snuck into the NCAA playoffs with a big series win over nationally-ranked Wichita State late in the year. Fullerton proceeded to sweep through the San Diego Regional, and took two straight from UCLA at the Fullerton Super Regional to advance to Omaha for the 15th time in the school's history. The Titans did go 0-2 at the College World Series, but lost both their games by just one run, while setting the record for the longest game in CWS history (in time) with a 5:40 minute affair against Dave Serrano's UC Irvine Anteaters. Over the summer, long-time coach George Horton resigned as Titan manager to rekindle a defunct University of Oregon baseball team, making room for 2007 National Coach of the Year, Serrano, and his staff to come over from Irvine--making Serrano the Titans' fourth Division I Head Coach in 33 years. The Titans open the 2008 campaign at TCU, with a three-game series slated against the Horned Frogs. As always, Cal State Fullerton is expected to have a strong pitching staff, highlighted by the return of senior Jeff Kaplan. The right-hander finished 2007 with a record of 11-3, an ERA of 3.30 and 83 strikeouts in 122.2 innings of work. In addition, senior right-hander Adam Jorgenson also returns for Fullerton. Jorgenson accumulated eight saves and a 4-2 record in 28 appearances last season to the tune of a 4.29 ERA and 57 strikeouts.

LMU ON OPENING DAY
Since 2001, LMU has been victorious in five of its seven games on Opening Day. The Lions defeated Cal State Northridge 7-3 in 2001's opener at Page Stadium before defeating UC Santa Barbara on the road to start the 2002 campaign. LMU failed to make it three-straight in 2003, dropping a one-run decision to Cal to open the year. LMU was back to its winning ways in 2004, knocking-off UC Riverside, 5-4, and getting revenge against Cal with a one-run victory in 2005. Starting the 2006 season on the road in Arizona, LMU dropped the first game of the year, 10-5, before rebounding last season with a 9-5 victory over Sac State.

WALLACE WATCHES SONGCO
Outfielder Angelo Songco was named to the 2008 Brooks Wallace Award Preseason Watch List, it was announced in early January. Songco, the reigning WCC Freshman of the Year, 2008 preseason All-Conference selection and 2007 Freshman All-American, earned a spot the prestigious list that will eventually determine the Player of the Year. The left-hand hitting outfielder led LMU in doubles (22), RBI (33), slugging percentage (.528), sacrifice flies (7) and outfield assists (8) last season. In addition, he tied for the lead in triples (3) and was second in batting average (.321), runs scored (36), home runs (4), total bases (102) and walks (30). In WCC play alone, he led the team in batting average (.392), hits (29), doubles (10), slugging percentage (.635) and on-base percentage (.464). The Wallace Award is presented to the nation's top collegiate baseball player in conjunction with the College Baseball Hall of Fame's annual induction festivities. The 2008 award banquet will be held Thursday, July 3, in the United Spirit Arena on the campus of Texas Tech.

WCC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
LMU was picked to finish fourth in the WCC 2008 preseason baseball poll, as selected by conference coaches. University of San Diego was chosen to repeat as West Coast Conference champion after receiving the maximum number of points, garnering all seven possible first-place votes and 49 overall points to take first place in the listing. Pepperdine was picked second with 42 overall points, while Santa Clara received the remaining first place vote and checked in at No. 3 in the poll with 32 points. LMU edged out Gonzaga for the fourth place spot, as the Lions received 29 points and the Zags garnered 28 points to grab the No. 5 spot. San Francisco was tabbed for a sixth place finish with 24 points, while Portland and Saint Mary's were picked to finish seventh and eighth with 12 points and eight points, respectively.