Pepperdine Earns Top 25 Rankings in Collegiate Baseball, Baseball America
6/8/2005 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 8, 2005
Malibu, Calif. - An impressive showing at the Long Beach Regional, in which it advanced to the championship game, catapulted the Pepperdine baseball team into the national rankings this week. The Waves are ranked No. 23 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 24 by Baseball America.
Pepperdine, which concluded its season with a 5-2 loss to USC on Monday, ended the year with a 41-23 overall record, marking the 12th time in school history that the Waves have posted a 40-win season. The Waves also have a streak of 28 consecutive seasons with at least 30 wins.
Pepperdine entered the Long Beach Regional as the No. 3 seed and, after an opening-game loss to the Trojans, came back to win three straight, defeating Rhode Island, host Long Beach State and USC to reach the regional title game. The Waves were the only team among the 64 teams in 16 regionals to lose their first game and come back to win three straight.
Faced with must-win situations the last three weeks of the season, Pepperdine took two out of three from San Francisco to capture the West Coast Conference's (WCC) West Division and, after losing the opener of the WCC Championship Series, won the final two games to capture the WCC title and earn an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament.
During the course of the season, the Waves registered an 8-7 record against ranked opponents, including wins over then No. 1-ranked Tulane, No. 2 Cal State Fullerton and No. 5 South Carolina. Additionally, Pepperdine defeated Long Beach State twice, Oregon State, Winthrop and USC.
The final polls will be released following the College World Series that will be held June 17-27 in Omaha, Nebraska.
