Baseball Unveils 2009 Schedule
8/26/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
“Loss of class time is one of our biggest concerns and so we’re trying to utilize the late start date and shorter season to our advantage by playing most of our games on the West Coast,” said Steve Rodriguez, who is preparing for his sixth season as Pepperdine’s head coach. “The fact that we’re still able to play this many games is great, however, it’s important for us to try and stay as close as we can for academic purposes.”
Pepperdine’s first trip across state lines isn’t until the middle of March when it visits
Despite being two of the most successful programs in collegiate baseball history, the Waves and Shockers have met only five times previously.
More recently, Pepperdine took two of three against the Shockers to begin the 2007 campaign, so now it’s the Waves’ turn to visit the heartland for what should be one of the marquee series of the 2009 college baseball season.
“I know going to
Pepperdine begins the 2009 season on Feb. 20 for the start of a home-away-home series with Cal State Northridge, and from there visits USC and UCLA with a weekend set at UC Davis pinned in between.
The Trojans return to
The Waves also have home and road games scheduled with in-state rivals
In addition to continuing its number of longstanding rivalries, Pepperdine will entertain three teams new to its all-time opponents list in 2009. The Purple Aces of Evansville head west for a four-game showdown at Eddy D. Field Stadium, March 6 to 8, while the Chicago State Cougars visit March 20 to 22.
The Ivy League’s Brown Bears help Pepperdine prepare for conference play with a 3 p.m. contest slated for March 24.
“Our guys do a pretty good job of understanding the importance of every game,” Rodriguez said. “Our midweek games are some of our most important of the season, because we’re playing against all these great conferences and strong teams like USC, UCLA,
Pepperdine’s conference season fittingly begins with a three-game series vs.
The Waves’ first shot at redemption takes place in
From there, Pepperdine plays 11 of its next 13 games at home, including three series against conference opponents Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and Loyola Marymount.
“We have a really good home winning percentage, so we try to play as many games here as we can,” Rodriguez said. “But at the same time, we want to make sure we gain enough road experience since all our NCAA Regionals games will be on the road. We have to make sure that our guys can deal with that type of atmospheres.”
There’s no shortage of road games for the Waves when they approach the season’s home stretch in late April/early May, as they’ll play eight of their last 12 matches away from
Pepperdine’s long road swing begins April 21 with the fourth and final game in its series with CS Northridge, then veers north for a showdown with
“I actually think our guys play well on the road because there are fewer distractions,” Rodriguez said. “All they can really do is concentrate on baseball, and I think it’s beneficial for them to travel and get away from their everyday routines.”
Pepperdine welcomes
