Senior Power : Strong Loyola Baseball Team Rock-Solid in the Experience Department : College: The Lions, ranked No. 12 in the nation, open their season today against Cal Poly Pomona. Play starts at 2 p.m. at Loyola.

Loyola Marymount’s Chris Smith is one of the few coaches in recent memory not to complain that his baseball team is too young or a little short on seasoning.

In fact, in his second season at the helm, Smith is playing up the Lions’ solid core of seniors as the team’s strength when Loyola opens the season at 2 p.m. today at home against Cal Poly Pomona.

“If nothing else, the one thing we’ve got is experience, with all the seniors,” Smith noted.

Actually, the Lions have such highly touted seniors as All-American catcher Miah Bradbury, left-handed pitching ace Steve Surico and bullpen leader Darryl Scott, and a bit more besides--the live bats of junior outfielder Tim Williams and sophomore first baseman Joe Ciccarella and enough other talent to earn No. 12 rating in Baseball America’s preseason Top 20.

It’s a ranking Smith is not debating. His tongue-in-cheek prediction: “Make your plans for Omaha.”

As usual, the road to the College World Series in Omaha will be paved by pitching, which is the Lions’ perennial unknown. Loyola should have plenty of offense and with the addition of transfers Tony Kounas from Oklahoma State and Rick Mediavilla from Mesa Junior College in Arizona, who hit from the right side, the lineup should be balanced. Smith expects the defense, which had lapses last year, to be stronger.

The pitching has been dealt a blow by the loss of junior Mike McNary, who is academically ineligible. He won 12 games in his first two seasons. The hard-throwing Surico won 12 games two years ago but slumped to 7-5 last year. As the pitching staff leader, Smith said, “It’s time for him to go win.”

Junior southpaw Jon Willard is the No. 2 starter and could sneak up on people. He was hurt most of last year but went 2-0 in five late starts. “He’s the guy people don’t know about,” Smith said. The third starting spot is between sophomore Joe Caruso (4-1 as a freshman) and junior Chris Spears (2-1), both right-handers. Smith said that in a crunch, he may spot-start Scott, who was the bullpen ace his first two seasons but slumped to 5-8 and a 5.48 earned-run average last season. Pitching “is the big question mark,” Smith said, repeating the annual refrain of Loyola coaches.

There are few questions about Bradbury, who turned down an offer from the Philadelphia Phillies to return for his final season. As a sophomore Bradbury batted .486 in the West Coast Conference, and last year he hit .398 while setting a team record with 31 doubles. Strong-armed and lanky at 6-foot-4, 210 pounds, the line-drive hitter’s only apparent weakness is lack of speed. He enters the season seven doubles short of the school career record 61.

The infield is nearly intact, featuring Ciccarella, the WCC’s Freshman of the Year with a .316 average. Seniors Kevin Van de Brake (.265), Darrel Deak (.218, 16 doubles) and Joe Bellezzo (.273) man second, short and third and will shuffle positions at times to get playing time for freshman Chris Gomez, who “can really play shortstop,” Smith said.

The starting outfield will have Williams, a compact left-handed line-drive hitter with power, in right field, the speedy Mediavilla in center and Kounas or junior Mark Tillman in

left. Kounas, who is expected to provide power, will be the designated hitter when he doesn’t play the field.

Another senior with a good bat, left-handed Greg Wall, will continue to see action at first base and as DH.

Loyola is expected to battle Santa Clara, Pepperdine and Nevada-Reno for the West Coast Conference title. The WCC race opens unusually early, with the first round of games in early February, so there is some pressure to get off to a good start, something the Lions didn’t do last year when they had to recover from a 1-8 start to finish at 39-24. By mid-February, Loyola will have played its first round of games against Santa Clara and Pepperdine and won’t face them again until May.

“If we get off to a good start, it’s a hell of a good deal,” Smith said of the revamped schedule. “We have to get off to a better start than we did last year.”

After facing Pomona today, the Lions play host to Chapman College at 1 p.m. Saturday and UC Irvine at 2 p.m. Tuesday before embarking on a three-game road trip to Arizona.

The Lions have appeared in the NCAA Regionals three of the last four seasons, reaching Omaha in 1986.