Loyola Opens Home Schedule Against Nevada : Baseball: Lions will try to rebound after losing to UC Irvine, 8-0, in opener on Tuesday.

First-year Loyola Marymount Coach Jody Robinson is not sure what to expect from the Lions in their home opener against Nevada at 2 p.m. today.

But he knows the Lions can’t play much worse than they did in Tuesday’s season-opening 8-0 loss to UC Irvine, in which Loyola was limited to three singles and committed two errors.

“I was really surprised to see them come out and play that poorly,� Robinson said. “We made a lot of mental mistakes.�

Robinson said he was also disappointed with the team’s offense. With the Lions hitting into four double plays, Irvine’s David Bladlow faced only two batters over the minimum in pitching a complete game.

“We didn’t swing the bats at all,� he said. “(Bladlow) had a good arm, but he was basically beating us with one pitch--a fastball.�

Loyola’s only good scoring opportunity came when outfielder Matt Marks singled to lead off the fourth inning and reached third base with only one out. But he was thrown out trying to score on a fly-ball out by first baseman Anthony Napolitano.

But Robinson said he saw some positive signs in the game. He was encouraged by the play of Marks, a senior, and outfielder Mike Seal and pitcher Shawn Hammett, both freshmen.

Seal, who was selected the West Coast Conference freshman of the year in a preseason poll by Baseball America magazine, got his first hit with a single in the eighth. Hammett, a walk-on from Bellarmine Prep in San Jose, allowed only one hit in three innings of work.

“Those three kids (played) a little more like we were expecting,� Robinson said.

Nevada finished 24-33 and placed sixth in the WCC last year. The Wolf Pack are competing as an NCAA Division I independent this year before joining the Big West Conference next season.

The teams will also play games at 1 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.

Robinson is still unsettled about his pitching rotation, although he expects to start Hammett today, sophomore Shane Bowers on Saturday and freshman Brian Fitzgerald, a former West Torrance High player, on Sunday. Bowers started against Irvine and gave up eight hits and four earned runs in four-plus innings.