2016 SCHEDULE

MALIBU, Calif. - The 2016 Pepperdine baseball schedule has been released as the program enters its first season under the direction of head coach Rick Hirtensteiner.

The Waves are coming off back-to-back West Coast Conference Tournament titles and NCAA postseason appearances as they embark on the 2016 campaign. Hirtensteiner, a long-time assistant with the Waves and recent Pepperdine Hall of Fame inductee, took over as head coach this past summer after Steve Rodriguez left for Baylor.

The Pepperdine slate features six teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season, three of which (UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, Texas A&M) were #1 seeds.

"We are eager to compete against some of the best teams in the nation for the 2016 season," said Hirtensteiner. "We will be tested right away as three of our first four weekends we play against teams which qualified for the NCAA regionals including a series in Malibu against a super-regional team in Texas A&M."

The Waves start the year with a full slate of home games, playing their first seven contests in Malibu, including series against Oakland (Feb. 19-21) and Texas A&M (Feb. 26-28). The team's season-opener will be against Oakland on Feb. 19 at 2 p.m.

Pepperdine hits the road for one non-conference series this season, traveling to Tulane for a three game set March 4-6. The Waves have mid-week games against Cal Poly and Cal State Northridge as well, and then host Columbia for a four-game series (March 11-14) before opening up conference play.

"The trip to Tulane gives us a great opportunity to bond as a team as well as play a really high-quality opponent on the road," said Hirtensteiner. "Adding in the fact that six of our midweek games are against NCAA Regional teams gives us a very challenging non-conference schedule that we hope will get us ready for WCC play."

The Waves start WCC action on the road at Gonzaga (March 18-20). Pepperdine plays five conference series at home this year and four on the road. The team's first home WCC series will be against last year's regular-season champs, San Diego, March 24-26. Pepperdine closes the regular season at home against Pacific (May 20-22).

The Waves also have several notable home-and-home midweek series during the conference season, playing UCLA, USC and UC Santa Barbara.