Simon Named WCC Player of the Week
4/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
SIMON NAMED WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Pepperdine senior Nate Simon Monday was named WCC Player of the Week ... Simon helped Pepperdine complete its sweep over Saint Mary’s ... Went 7-for-11 (.636), compiling four runs, three doubles, a home run, and seven RBI ... Simon is the second Wave this season to win the conference’s weekly certificate, joining Scott Alexander who was honored for pitching a complete game, seven-inning shutout at UC Davis on 2/28 ... The WCC honor is the first of Simon’s two-year career with Pepperdine ... Named Conference USA Player of the Week as a sophomore at Tulane on 3/5/07.
KLEEN BACK WITH KANE COUNTY: Former Pepperdine infielder/relief pitcher Steve Kleen was recently featured in a story written by Mike Knapp for The Beacon News, based in suburban Chicago ... According to the article, Kleen is trying to make his way back up the Oakland Athletics’ organizational ladder after missing the entire 2008 season to injury ... The former Wave and 2005 11th-round draft pick is off to a good start, hitting .385 with four RBIs through the Cougars’ first three games ... Click here to read the entire article ... Kleen is teammates at Kane County with 2008 Pepperdine draft pick Brett Hunter.
WEDNESDAY’S GAME: Is the fifth game of an eight-game homestand (3-1) and the second of two straight contests vs. non-conference opponents ... Waves lost to Long Beach State, 5-4, Monday afternoon ... Pepperdine wraps homestand with three-game weekend series vs. Loyola Marymount (4/17-4/19) ... Began homestand with sweep of Saint Mary’s [W, 7-6; W, 7-1; W, 21-2] ... Waves are 5-3 vs. midweek opponents and 16-9 against non-conference foes ... 5-3 vs. Big West ... 4-1 vs Pac-10.
PROBABLES: Wednesday's starting pitchers have yet to be announced by either Pepperdine or USC ... The Trojans play host to Cal State Fullerton tonight at 6:30 p.m.
WAVES VS. TROJANS: Pepperdine is 38-72-1 all-time against USC, including a 10-1 win over the Trojans at Dedeaux Field on 2/25 ... Matt Bywater coasted in his first appearance of the season that night, striking out 10 batters ... The Waves are 19-15-1 vs. USC at Eddy D. Field Stadium ... 19-57 at Dedeaux Field ... The regional rivals split their two-game home-and-home series in 2008 with each club winning at home ... Pepperdine won the first game, 10-5, and lost the second, 5-1.
LBSU SHOCKS WAVES: Pepperdine blew its largest lead of the season Monday in a 5-4 loss to Long Beach State ... The Waves led 4-1 heading into the seventh inning, but the Dirtbags’ first four hitters all reached base and came around to score off relievers Bryce Uhrig and Aaron Gates ... The Waves’ offense was paced by veterans David Harris and Ryan Heroy, each of whom hit their third home runs of the year ... Colin Rooney went 3-for-5 with three singles ... Starter Scott Alexander struck out six over six innings, giving up one run on two hits and four walks ... Nick Gaudi needed only nine pitches to retired the side in the ninth.
BONE MARROW DRIVE SUPPORTING ROBERT CORRALES: In honor of one of its baseball alums L.A. County Sheriff Robert Corrales, the Pepperdine Athletics Department is establishing four bone marrow donor drive dates throughout the spring and is currently accepting volunteers to assist ... Representatives from the National Marrow Donor Program will begin collecting marrow registries at both Firestone Fieldhouse (Room 125) and Eddy D. Field Stadium on April 15, 17 and 18 ... For more information on the event or to volunteer please contact Heather Collart with Pepperdine Athletics at (310) 506-6483 ... Corrales was an infielder for the Waves in 1975 and hit .311 with two home runs and 19 RBI for a team that finished 37-13 and 14-2 in the WCAC ... Corrales was diagnosed with leukemia in early 2008 and is currently in search of a bone marrow donor.
WEEKEND MILESTONES: The following career statistical milestones were reached during last week’s three-game series vs. Saint Mary’s College ... Nate Simon: 100 RBI ... Bryce Mendonca: 100 SB and 150 runs scored.
PROMOTIONS: The first 100 Pepperdine students at Wednesday’s 3 p.m. game vs. USC will receive "Beat SC" t-shirts ... The first 100 students at next Friday’s series opener vs. Loyola Marymount will receive an orange t-shirt.
TICKET INFORMATION: Single-match tickets to all home baseball games are $8 for adults, $5 for students and seniors and free to all Pepperdine students and faculty with a university ID.
ON THE WEB: Live video of all the Waves’ home games can be viewed at PepperdineSports.com ... The official website has moved to a pay-per-view platform in 2008-09, with an annual pass costing $69.95 and monthly subscriptions also being available ... Live statistics can be accessed for all home games free of charge, and links are provided to the home team’s website when the Waves are on the road ... Go to the "Wave Casts" link toward the top of the home page to find more information.
WHERE THE WAVES ARE: Here’s a list of former Waves and where they’re playing at in pro baseball to start the 2009 season ... This list is based on information provided by mlb.com and minorleaguebaseball.com as of April 14, 2009 ... The Pepperdine sports information office requests the help of Pepperdine fans, friends and family to help keep this list updated throughout the season by E-mailing Chris Macaluso at Chris.Macaluso@pepperdine.edu with any changes or additions ... Submissions regarding independent league players also will be gladly accepted.
Pros
Danny Haren (Arizona Diamondbacks)
Noah Lowry (San Francisco Giants)
Will Ohman (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Randy Wolf (Los Angeles Dodgers)
Minors
Chase d'Arnaud (West Virginia Power/A - Pittsburgh Pirates)
Jason Dominguez (Lancaster JetHawks/A - Houston Astros)
Barry Enright (Mobile Bay Bears/AA - Arizona Diamondbacks)
Brett Hunter (Kane County Cougars/A - Oakland A’s)
Steve Kleen (Kane County Cougars/A - Oakland A’s)
Kea Kometani (Frisco Roughriders/AA - Texas Rangers)
David Matranga (New Orleans Zephyrs/AAA - Florida Marlins)
Adrian Ortiz (Wilmington Blue Rocks/A - Kansas City Royals)
Dane Sardinha (Toledo Mud Hens/AAA - Detroit Tigers)
Eric Thames (Dunedin Blue Jays/A - Toronto Blue Jays)
Chad Tracy (Frisco Roughriders/AA - Texas Rangers)
Danny Worth (Toledo Mud Hens/AAA - Detroit Tigers)
THE HEAD COACH: Steve Rodriguez is in his sixth season as the head coach of Pepperdine Baseball and owns an all-time record of 206-133 (.608) ... Has guided his clubs to three West Coast Conference titles and five NCAA Regional appearances ... Served as an assistant coach under Frank Sanchez from 2000 to 2003 ... Played second base for Pepperdine’s 1992 national championship team.
WAVES AT EDDY D. FIELD STADIUM (15-7, .682): Lost first game of current eight-game homestand (3-1) Monday, 5-4, to Long Beach State, snapping a four-game home winning streak ... Blew a three-run lead in the seventh, marking the fourth time this season - and second time at home - Pepperdine has lost a game after leading ... Lost a 2-0 lead in a 6-4 defeat against Chicago State on 3/21 ... The Waves are in the midst of their 37th season of playing baseball at Eddy D. Field Stadium, where they own an all-time record of 789-301-12 (.721), including a 23-5 (.821) mark in 2008 ... Have not experienced a losing season at home since their first year at Malibu in 1973 ... Pepperdine has won 23 or more games at home five times in the last nine years.
WAVES ON THE ROAD (5-7, .417): Led at UCSB 8-5 last Tuesday with two outs in the top of the fourth when the game was called due to rain ... Game will be continued at Santa Barbara on Monday, May 4 at 3 p.m. ... Were swept at San Diego last weekend to bring their road record below .500 for just the second time all season and first since dropping road-opener at Cal State Northridge (2/21; L, 2-6) ... Waves stumbled slightly on the road in 2008, finishing with a 15-16 (.484) record that also includes neutral site games ... Have not posted a winning road record since 2006 (19-10, .655) and claim just four winning seasons on the road this decade ... Since 1973, the Waves’ first season on the Malibu Campus, Pepperdine’s road record is a respectable 573-452-5 (.559).
WAVES IN THE STANDINGS (54): The Waves have spent the following days alone or tied at each position in the West Coast Conference standings: FIRST - 0, SECOND - 0, THIRD - 0, FOURTH - 4, FIFTH - 2, SIXTH - 2, SEVENTH - 10, EIGHTH - 0 ... Moved into a tie for fourth with San Francisco at 4-5 following a three-game sweep of Saint Mary’s, but remain 3.0 GB behind San Diego after the Toreros dropped two of three at Gonzaga ... Began last week a season high 5.0 games behind the Toreros ... Have spent 53 days above, 1 day at 0 days below .500 this season ... Wednesday is the 55th day of the 2009 college baseball season.
WAVES IN THE RANKINGS: Rivals.com (NR), PING! Baseball (NR), Baseball America (NR), National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NR), Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (NR), College Baseball Insider Composite Poll (NR), ESPN/USA Today (NR).
THE ROONEY FUND: A fund for Patrick Rooney’s children has recently been established through the assistance of Wells Fargo Bank ... Please visit any Southern California Wells Fargo location for more information on how to contribute or send donations to: Children of Patrick Rooney Fund, c/o Erynn Rooney, Wells Fargo Bank, 20375 East Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda, CA 92886 ... Rooney, a former Pepperdine infielder and brother of current Wave, Colin, died in a January plane crash outside Steamboat Springs, Colo.
GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD: For the first time ever, fan voting will be a part of the Golden Spikes Award in 2009 ... Fans will be able to vote for their favorite player starting May 26 after USA Baseball officials cut the watch list of players to 30 semifinalists ... USA Baseball officials will unveil the 2009 Golden Spikes Award Watch List on Feb. 17 ... The Golden Spikes Award will be presented to the top amateur player in the country on July 15 in St. Louis as part of the MLB All-Star Game festivities ... For more info, please log onto www.goldenspikesaward.com.
ABOUT PEPPERDINE: Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won a total of nine NCAA championships in five different men’s sports — one of just 14 schools to have accomplished this feat. Of the 14, Pepperdine is the only non-BCS school and has by far the smallest enrollment. The majority of Pepperdine’s teams are ranked nationally year after year and compete for conference and national titles.
