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Lions Announce 2009 Baseball Schedule
Nov. 11, 2008
LOS ANGELES, Calif. - First-year Head Coach Jason Gill has announced the 2009 Loyola Marymount University baseball schedule that features 20 games against 2008 NCAA Regional teams, including four Super Regional qualifiers and the defending National Champions from Fresno State. The Lions will begin the 2009 campaign at home with a four-game series against Utah starting on February 20. LMU's current 57-game schedule will see 25 of the contests played within the walls of Page Stadium and the other 32 on the road. Playing in Southern California, a well-known hotbed for college baseball, LMU is consistently playing one of the toughest schedules in all of Division I baseball. Last season, the Lions finished the year second in terms of strength of schedule according to Boyd's World (boydsworld.com). "We are very excited about our schedule this season and the competition that we have lined up," Gill said. "Being on the West Coast, you know you will play quality teams virtually every game, and that makes for a strong schedule and provides a great chance to improve and excel." After opening the season with a four-game series against Utah from February 20-22, LMU will hit the road for the first time in 2009 for a midweek contest at Cal State Northridge on February 24. Following those five games, LMU will host its first 2008 Regional qualifier in Long Beach State on February 25. The Lions will remain at home as they welcome Holy Cross to town for a three-game set from February 28-March 1 before visiting Super Regional qualifier UC Irvine on March 3. LMU will then hit the road for two four-game series against UC Santa Barbara (March 6-8) and Hawai'i (March 12-15), sandwiching a midweek contest at home against the Big West's UC Riverside on March 10. The second, and final regular season game against Long Beach State on Saint Patrick's Day (March 17) will begin a string of five contests against teams who qualified for the 2008 tournament. Three days after the midweek match-up in Long Beach, Calif., the Lions will welcome the defending National Champions from Fresno State to Los Angeles for four games from March 20-22.
Another game against Cal State Northridge on March 24 concludes the five-game homestand before the Lions hit the road for four of their next five contests, including the start of the West Coast Conference schedule. Santa Clara will welcome LMU from March 27-29 before the Lions travel to UCLA on April 1 to square-off against the 2008 Regional qualifiers. The game against the Bruins will be preceded by the second of three games against UCI on March 31. The conference schedule will consist of 21 games, 9 of which will be played at Page Stadium. LMU will host Portland (Apr. 3-5), San Francisco (Apr. 9-1), and 2008 WCC champions San Diego (May 1-3) and will travel to Santa Clara, 2008 Regional qualifier Pepperdine (Apr. 17-19), St. Mary's (April 24-26) and Gonzaga (May 15-17). Between conference games, the Lions will continue to boast a non-conference schedule packed with some of the best teams on the west coast, if not in the all of Division I baseball. The second half of the non-conference schedule will feature games against Super Regional teams Cal State Fullerton (April 7) and Arizona (three games from May 9-11) on the road, and the final game against UC Irvine at Anteater Ballpark on April 13. In addition, LMU will play a home-and-home with USC (home on April 21, on the road May 13). All 57 games of the Lions' 2009 schedule will have a live audio broadcast streamed in conjunction with Stretch Internet at lmulions.com. The games can also be viewed on Gametracker by accessing the links from the online schedule. |
