USD Baseball 1999

I

17 I

1999 Tor,ero 1.Bas,eball

The Wes-t Coas-t Con-Ference Gonzaga, Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine, Portland, Saint Mary's, San Diego, San Francisco, Santa Clara Changes In Store For 1999: West Coast Conference baseball enters its 32nd season Conference History:

The baseball portion of the WCC started with five charter members and three associates as LMU, Pepperdine, Saint Mary 's, San Francisco and Santa Clara were joined by UC Santa Barbara, Pacific and San Jose State. The conference temporarily split from 1977-84 into the Northern and Southern California Baseball Associations (so divisional play isn't completly foreign to the league), but realigned in 1985 to include San Diego and Nevada in a seven-team league. In 1991, the Wolf Pack departed and a six-team loop existed until Portland and Gonzaga, full members in all other sports, left the Pac-10 North league to bring the WCC to its full-bodied eight-team set in 1996. This is the third year of the current eight-team WCC baseball alignment but the conference has determined a cham– pion in the sport annually since 1968. During that time, teams in the WCC have advanced to four College World Series, including a national title in 1992 (Pepperdine). Only three of the current members -- Loyola Marymount, Pepperdine and Santa Clara -- have represented the WCC in NCAA tournament play. That trio has an all-time record of 66-66 in the championships. Portland is the only other current member with NCAA tourney experience, most recently in 1991 as the Pacific-IO North representative. The WCC sends representatives to NCAA champion– ships in each of the 13 league sports. Overall, conference members have won 31 NCAA team and individual titles. 1999 wee PRESEASON COACHES POLL 1. Loyola Marymount (5) 1998 wee Final Standings 1. LMU 34-23-1; 21-8-0 wee 2. Pepperdine 32-22; 21-9 3. USF 34-24; 18-12 USD 29-30; 18-12

with a decidedly different look as divisional play is introduced for the first time under an eight-team alignment. Two four-team divisions, aptly named "West" and "Coast" will play a 30-game schedule. The champions of each division will collide at the end of the season in a best two-of-three series to determine the WCC's automatic entry into the NCAA Championships. The site of that playoff will be based completely on the outcome of the regular season series meeting between the two champions. The winner of that three-game regular season collision earns the right to host the championships. Each team will play a total of six games against each team in its own division, three home and three away, and a single three-game series against each team in the opposite division. Every two years two teams will swap divisions, effectively mixing the matchups over an eight-year span. Of note is the fact that traditional local rivals (Portland-Gonzaga; Saint Mary's-San Francisco; LMU-Pepperdine and Santa Clara-San Diego) will never be in the same division. The groups will swap members next year, since the 1998 schedule used the new format despite the absence of a playoff.

"1999 wee DIVISIONAL ALI.GNMENT COAST

WEST Portland

Gonzaga San Francisco

Saint Mary's Loyola Marymount Santa Clara

Pepperdine San Diego

2000 wee DIVISIONAL ALIGNMENT

2. Pepperdine (1) 3. San Francisco 4. Santa Clara 5. San Diego 6. Saint Mary's 7. Gonzaga (1) 8. Portland

WEST Portland Saint Mary's Pepperdine San Diego COAST Gonzaga San Francisco Loyola Marymount Santa Clara 5. scu 27-26; 16-14 6. GU 16-34; 10-20 7. SMC 12-29; 8-19 8. UP 10-39; 5-22 1998 All-West Coast Conference Baseball Teams FIRST TEAM Scott Walter Steve Zorn Anthony Angel David Meliah G.J. Raymundo Kevin Hook Chris Cosbey JeffHebert Bill Mott SCHOOL Loyola Marymount Pepperdine Loyola Marymount San Francisco Pepperdine Loyola Marymount Pepperdine Saint Mary 's Santa Clara POS C lB 2B ss 3B IF HT YR PLAYER OF THE YEAR: 6-2 Fr. 6-1 Sr. 6-0 So. Scott Walter, LMU Scott Walter, LMU PITCHER OF THE YEAR: & Michael Schultz, LMU Michael Schultz, LMU CO-COACHES OF THE YEAR: Frank Cruz, LMU & John Cunningham, San Diego A/1-WCC Second Team Tony Betancourt USD C 5-9 Jr.

CO-FRESHMEN OF THE YEAR:

6-1 Jr. 6-1 Jr. 6-0 Sr. 5-9 Sr. 6-0 Sr. 6-2 Sr. 6-2 Jr. 6 - 4 Jr.

OF OF OF DH DH UT

David Wright USD OF 5-11 Jr. Gregg Omori USF IF 6-0 Fr. Michael Waugh SMC UT 6-1 Jr. Sean Buller USF P 6-5 Jr. Will Ohman Pepp. P 6-2 So. Mark Vallecorsa USD P 6-0 Jr.

Kevin Reese USD 1B 6-0 So. Tony Hurtado USF 2B 5- 7 So. Bo Hart GU SS 5-10 Jr.

David Sugden Joe Sulentor

Pepperdine

Loyola Marymount

Tony LoPresti USO 3B 6-0 So. 6 - 4 Sr. Josh Oder Pepp. OF 5-9 Sr. 6 - 4 Sr. Matt Riordan LMU OF 6-1 So.

Brian Mazone San Diego Ryan Bulich Santa Clara Michael Schultz Loyola Marymount Brad Tucker Pepperdine

p p p

6-7 Fr. 6-2 Jr.

USD A/1-WCC Honorable Mentions: Marty Hayes, Jeff Powers