SPORTSCOPE : Toros Fight to Keep Top Spot in CCAA

The Cal State Dominguez Hills baseball team, which has a half-game lead in the California Collegiate Athletic Assn. standings, will open a three-game series today against UC Riverside.

The teams meet today at 3 p.m. at Dominguez Hills. They are scheduled to play a doubleheader at 4 p.m. Saturday at Riverside.

Dominguez Hills (24-15) dropped to 16th in the NCAA Division II rankings after losing conference games to Cal State Los Angeles, 7-3 and 8-6, last week. The Toros are 10-6 in the CCAA and Pomona, a half-game out in second place, is 9-6. Cal Poly San Luis Obispo is third at 8-6.

Riverside (14-19, 6-7) has won a share of the conference title the past two years.

Dominguez Hills has been led by junior first baseman Greg Bergeron, who is batting .411. He is bidding to become the first Toro to bat .400 since Rueben Jauregui batted a school-record .408 in 1988.

Designated hitter Ariel Martin is batting .348 and outfielder Corey Woinarowicz is batting .333. The team’s top pitcher has been sophomore Scott Veeder, who is 4-3 with a 2.11 earned-run average.

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The Loyola Marymount baseball team will play host to 15th-ranked UC San Diego for a three-game series starting today.

The teams open this afternoon with a 2:30 game and are scheduled to play a doubleheader at noon Saturday.

San Diego is 26-10 and in first place in the West Coast Conference at 14-4. Loyola is 15-23 and in third place in the WCC at 8-7. When the teams played in March, San Diego won two of three games.

Loyola has given up 63 runs in losing its last five games. The team earned-run average is 5.56.

The Lions have been led by center fielder Mike Peters, who is batting .323. Designated hitter Jesse Ibarra has a conference-leading 10 home runs and a team-high 31 RBIs.

Loyola will play host to Christ College Irvine at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

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For the second year in a row, Loyola Marymount first baseman Anthony Napolitano has been named the school’s male student athlete of the year.

Sophomore volleyball setter Robin Ortgiesen was named women’s student athlete of the year.

Napolitano, a junior with a 3.65 grade-point average, has made the dean’s list three semesters. He was named a West Coast Conference scholar-athlete and made the conference’s all-academic team last year. He also made the all-conference first team last season after batting .343.

Ortgiesen, an international business major, was a standout at Mira Costa High. She was an all-conference second-team selection last season after finishing second in the nation in assists with 1,776.

The athletes will be recognized today during the school’s student services and leadership awards ceremony at Murphy Recital Hall.