Loyola Holds Off Pepperdine in Opener
Anthony Angel’s sacrifice fly in the seventh inning scored the winning run Friday as the Loyola Marymount baseball team defeated 10th-ranked Pepperdine, 3-2, at Loyola in the opening game of the best-of-three West Coast Conference championship series.
The series continues with Game 2 today at noon at Loyola and, if necessary, Game 3 to follow.
Loyola (32-25) built a 2-0 lead on a run-scoring single by shortstop Curt Fiore in the first inning and an RBI single by first baseman Joe Sulentor in the sixth.
Pepperdine (42-13) pulled even in the seventh on a bases-loaded double by left fielder Woody Clifford.
In the bottom of the inning, designated hitter Kris Zacuto was hit by a pitch and moved to third on a single by left fielder David Maffei, setting the stage for Angel.
*
UCLA junior Seilala Sua, attempting to become the first male or female athlete to win all four throwing events in the Pacific 10 Conference track and field championships, won the shotput and javelin but placed fourth in the hammer at Tempe, Ariz.
She still made history by becoming the first woman to win both the shotput and javelin titles.
Sua, the two-time defending champion in the discus, will attempt to win that event today.
Dwight Phillips of Arizona State broke a 16-year-old meet record in the long jump, hitting 26-10 on his first try to better the previous record of 26-9 1/4, set by USC’s Randy Williams in 1983.
*
Stanford defeated USC, 5-1, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA women’s tennis tournament at Gainesville, Fla., reaching the semifinals for the 14th consecutive year.
The Cardinal needed two three-set victories to beat the weary Trojans in a match that lasted nearly three hours. USC had only 12 1/2 hours rest after wrapping up a 5-4 victory over Miami early Friday morning.
No. 2 Stanford plays California in today’s semifinals. Top-ranked Florida plays Duke.
*
Julie Adams hit two home runs for the second consecutive game, leading top-seeded UCLA to a 14-0 victory over Creighton in an NCAA softball regional at UCLA.
Adams’ grand slam in the fifth inning broke open a 1-0 game. She added a solo shot in the sixth for her 16th homer of the season.
Amanda Freed struck out a career-high 11 batters while holding Creighton (31-28) to four hits.
UCLA (57-6) will play Minnesota (48-18) in a third-round game today at 10 a.m.
The Golden Gophers defeated Cal State Northridge, 2-1, on a seventh-inning home run by designated hitter Dana Ballard, her first of the season.
Northridge (30-23) plays Missouri (39-20) in an elimination game today at 12:30 p.m.
At Baton Rouge, La., Long Beach State (32-12) defeated Southern, 8-0, in a regional game that was halted after five innings.
Southern (33-14) managed only one hit against 49er pitchers Traci Hansel and Kelly Nasrawi.
*
Defending champion Jennifer Rosales of USC shot a four-over-par 75 and is in fourth place, nine shots behind leader Grace Park of Arizona State, heading into the final round of the NCAA women’s golf championships at Tulsa, Okla.
Duke is eight shots ahead of Arizona State and Georgia in the team competition.
*
Todd Saldana, who coached the UCLA women’s soccer team to its second consecutive Pacific 10 Conference championship last year, has been selected to coach the school’s men’s soccer team.
Saldana, 37, replaces onetime mentor Sigi Schmid, who resigned last month to coach the Galaxy.
UCLA will conduct a search to find a new women’s coach.
*
Chris Tahan went five for five and drove in two runs, including the winner with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning, as the Cal Lutheran baseball team edged third-ranked Chapman, 9-8, in a semifinal game of the NCAA Division III West Regional tournament at Georgetown, Texas.
Chapman (39-4) later held off Southwestern, 10-8, and will play Cal Lutheran (30-12) today for the regional title.