Pepperdine Ranked No. 29 In Collegiate Baseball's Preseason Poll
12/22/2004 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Dec. 22, 2004
With 22 letterwinners returning, including seven starters and the No. 7 recruiting class in the country, the Pepperdine baseball team earned a No. 29 ranking in Collegiate Baseball's preseason poll that was released on Wednesday.
Second-year head coach Steve Rodriguez' Waves are coming off a 30-32 overall record, won the West Coast Conference (WCC) title and advanced to the championship game of the Fullerton Regional before losing to eventual College World Series Champion Cal State Fullerton in 2004.
Texas, which finished as runner-up to Cal State Fullerton, gained the top spot in the preseason poll. Rounding out the Top 5 are Miami, Fla., Cal State Fullerton, Tulane and Louisiana State.
Highlighting the list of returning to players for Pepperdine are senior utility man Steve Kleen, senior right hander Kea Kometani, junior second baseman David Uribes and sophomore catcher Chad Tracy.
Kleen earned first team All-WCC honors in 2004 after leading the Waves with a .373 average, belting seven home runs and collecting 56 RBI. On the mound, Kleen registered a 4-3 record, 4.07 ERA and totaled eight saves.
Kometani received honorable mention all-conference recognition following an 8-6 record and 4.05 ERA. His eight wins tied for the team lead.
Uribes garnered first team All-WCC honors after batting .321 with seven home runs, 33 RBI and a team-high 18 stolen bases.
Tracy earned freshman All-American honors after hitting .320, leading the team with 12 home runs and totaling 47 RBI.
Highlighting the list of incoming players are freshmen outfielders Donald Brown (Camarillo, CA / Camarillo HS), Adrian Ortiz (Bayamon, Puerto Rico / Puerto Rico Baseball Academy) and Jason Dominguez (Lake Balboa, CA / Chatsworth HS) along with pitchers Barry Enright (Stockton, CA / St. Mary's HS) and Adam Olbrychowski (Los Angeles, CA / Cleveland HS).
As a senior, Dominguez, who is an outfielder/right handed pitcher, led Chatsworth High to its second straight No. 1 national ranking by Baseball America as the team posted a 35-0 record in 2004. Dominguez batted .490 with six home runs and 35 RBI while registering a 13-0 record and 1.38 ERA as the club's ace.
Ortiz is a speedy outfielder who can hit for average and was a fifth-round draft pick of the Chicago Cubs in this past June's annual amateur draft.
Brown is left-handed batter who played for a winning program at nearby Camarillo High and earned all-league accolades on the diamond and as the school's quarterback.
Enright, a right-handed pitcher earned All-State and "Most Valuable Player" honors at St. Mary's High. As a junior, he posted an 8-1 record, 2.00 ERA in addition to batting .466 with seven home runs and 43 RBI.
Olbrychowski went 5-0 with a 0.21 ERA and struck out 61 batters in 33.2 innings during his senior campaign at Cleveland High.
The Pepperdine recruiting class is further bolstered by the additions of infielders Bryan Minkel (Oxnard, CA / Oxnard JC), Drew Saberhagen (Calabassas, CA / Calabassas HS) and Danny Worth (Valencia, CA / Valencia HS), catcher Lucas Gingrich (San Jose, CA / San Jose JC) and pitchers Dylan Gonzalez (Ft. Lauderdale, FL / Broward CC), Doug Konoske (Carlsbad, CA / La Costa Canyon HS) and Brian Ozols (Rancho Bernardo, CA / Ranch Bernardo HS).
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's Preseason Poll
Rank School ('04 Final Record)
1. Texas (58-15)
2. Miami, Fla. (50-13)
3. Cal. St. Fullerton (47-22)
4. Tulane (42-21)
5. Louisiana St. (46-19)
6. Stanford (46-14)
7. North Carolina (43-21)
8. South Carolina (53-17)
9. Georgia (45-23)
10. Texas A&M (42-22)
11. Arizona St. (41-18)
12. Arizona (36-27-1)
13. Georgia Tech. (44-21)
14. Long Beach St. (40-21)
15. Rice (46-14)
16. Mississippi (39-21)
17. Washington (39-20-1)
18. Florida St. (45-23)
19. Mississippi St. (35-24)
20. Notre Dame (51-12)
21. Clemson (39-26)
22. Florida (43-22)
23. Oklahoma St. (38-24)
24. Central Florida (48-17)
25. Baylor (29-31)
26. Wichita St. (49-16)
27. Virginia (44-15)
28. Winthrop (37-23)
9. Pepperdine (30-32)
30. Florida Atlantic (47-17)
