Los Angeles, Calif., Saturday, March 11, 2000 -- Scott Walter hit for the cycle for the first time in his career and went 5-for-6 this afternoon with four RBIs, including a three-run home run, to lead No.25-ranked Loyola Marymount to a commanding 18-5 win over San Francisco in West Coast Conference action at Page Stadium. The victory capped an emotional day after LMU Athletics retired the jerseys of former players Tim Layana (54), Billy Bean (44), and Jerry Stone (10) during a pre-game ceremony.

No.25 LMU (13-5, 2-0 WCC) bolted out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as the Lions batted around the order and pounded out six hits. CF Mike Hymes and LF Rob Hirsh led off with singles, setting the stage for C Scott Walter's three-run home run, his second in the last two games. LMU capped its scoring in the first after 3B Tommy Perez hit a two-run single that scored RF Jason Aspito who reached on a error and 2B Anthony Angel who singled. The Lions extended their lead to 10-0 in the bottom of the second inning after collecting five hits in the frame and batting around the order again. Each of the first five players in the inning singled and scored. Perez's fielder's choice RBI and 1B Ian Wilson's RBI sacrifice fly capped the inning. After just two innings, the Lions had 11 hits and its first five players in the order scored twice and went a combined 9-for-10 at the plate with eight RBIs. LMU plated two runs in the third on a two-run home run by Aspito and a single run in the fourth on a solo home run that towered over the right-field scoreboard by DH Chad Lindholm. The Lions capped their scoring in the seventh, scoring five runs on three hits.

San Francisco (12-7, 0-2 WCC) plated two runs in the fourth inning. 3B Tag Bozied extended his current hitting streak to 18 games with a solo home run to left field, and 2B Tony Hurtado had a RBI single that scored LF Danny Trumble who reached on a single. The Dons added two runs in the sixth on a RBI sacrifice fly by C Rigo Lopez that plated 1B Chad Soares who doubled to lead off the inning. Hurtado had a RBI double later in the frame. USF capped its scoring in the seventh, scoring a single run on a RBI double by Trumble.

LMU starter Michael Schultz improved to 3-2 on the year after working 6.0 innings and striking out three. Schultz scattered eight of USF's 10 hits while allowing four earned runs. San Francisco starter Jesse Mena took the loss for the Dons after working just one inning and scattering nine hits. He allowed eight runs, seven earned.

Walter led the Lions offensively, hitting for the cycle for the first time in his career. He went 5-for-6 at the plate with 4 RBIs, extending his series total to 7-for-12 with nine RBIs after yesterday's 16-4 win over USF. Walter scored four times today for the Lions and has scored six times in the series thus far. LMU pounded out 23 hits in the game, three shy of the school record of 26 set on April 23, 1998 against Nevada. Loyola Marymount sent 15 players to the plate in the game, 11 of which collected a hit and seven of which had multi-hit efforts.

During a pre-game ceremony, LMU Athletics retired the jerseys of three of its former baseball players. The jerseys of Tim Layana (54), Billy Bean (44), and Jerry Stone (10) were three of a total of seven in the department that have been retired this year. The others included former women's volleyball players Tracy Holman and Mardell Wrensch, and former men's basketball players Bo Kimble and Hank Gathers.

No.25-ranked Loyola Marymount and San Francisco close out their three-game series tomorrow (Mar. 12) in a single game at Page Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. Yesterday's series opening victory (LMU 16, USF 4) was career No.100 for fourth-year head coach Frank Cruz.