PREVIEW VIDEO | 2015 SCHEDULE

Game Notes

Feb. 11, 2015

MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine baseball team opens the 2015 season this Friday when it begins a three-game series against Tulane at 2 p.m. All three games will be played in Malibu at Eddy D. Field Stadium.

The Waves are coming off a stellar season in which they won their 17^th regular-season WCC title and made the program's first ever run into the NCAA Super Regional since the round was instituted in 1999. The Waves went 43-18 last year and featured three All-Americans and five All-WCC first teamers.

This year's squad returns five starting position players and two starting pitchers, including freshman All-American Aaron Barnett and third-team All-American Hutton Moyer, along with WCC All-Freshman team honorees Brandon Caruso and Manny Jefferson.

A team that featured a fair amount of young talent last season, the Waves will not only be looking for a jump in production from its returning sophomores, but will add an influx of fresh faces. Pepperdine has 13 incoming freshman, four players coming off injury or redshirt years and one transfer. The young talent will combine with a core that features eight upperclassmen, all of which contributed to the team's postseason run last year.

We sat down with head coach Steve Rodriguez to get a closer look at what's in store for the 2015 Waves.

"After the run we had last year, it gives the guys coming back the understanding that they can do it," said Rodriguez, last year's WCC Coach of the Year. "We were three outs away from going to Omaha and a lot of them remember that. The way I've explained it to them is that this is a new year and they have to re-prove everything this season. They need to go out and play sound fundamental baseball, play good defense, have timely hitting, throw strikes, keep the ball down, capitalize on mistakes and be the best baseball team we can be. Those things don't change. Last year's team was last year and now we just need to focus on this year and make sure we do everything we're supposed to."

On the offense:

"What's great is that we have the majority of our offense and defense back, guys that played a huge role last year. We have a great group of freshman and transfers that have come in and stabilized our offense and given us a lot of options. This might be one of the deepest years we've had offensively. I'm looking forward to seeing what our returners can do coming back and how much our young guys can contribute."

On the defense:

"I actually think we can be better defensively this year. In regards to the maturity level of our guys, the depth, our ability to cover ground with our quickness and now we have some veterans up the middle, defense should be a strong suit of this year's team. I think defensively, like always, we can be pretty good as long as we can stay with the fundamentals, that's the key."

On the pitching:

"Jackson McClelland and A.J. Puckett will be our main returners in the rotation and then after that we have a group of young guys that are going to be fighting for a chance to contribute. Any time you have guys like that anchoring your rotation, who have been in some of the biggest games this program has had in a long time, it allows those younger guys to feed off of their experience and their confidence, and lets those young guys know they need to learn the game as quickly as possible so they can have that same success. The bullpen as well is going to have a great mix of returners and newcomers as well, all of which I expect to be able to help us win. Some of them might be unproven, but I still expect good things."

On expectations:

"The expectation this year is really simple; be a very good baseball team. When we go out there, teams should know we're not going to beat ourselves, that we're going to pitch competitively, get good quality at-bats and then play solid defense. When we do that, it makes it very simple. With a long season like we have you do need some luck as well. You need guys to stay healthy, so all the little things that people don't see, like strength and nutrition play a key role in that."

The Waves play 11 of their first 12 games at home this year, with early-season series against Butler (Feb. 20-22) and Hawaii (Feb. 26-March 1) at home in addition to the Tulane series. Pepperdine plays its lone road game in the month of February at Long Beach State (Feb. 17). The Waves also have single-games scheduled against Cal State Fullerton (away, March 3) and UCLA (home, March 10), and will travel to Washington for a three-game set (Feb. 6-8), before the start of WCC play on March 12.

Notes:

THIS WEEK FOR THE WAVES: The Pepperdine baseball team opens the season with a three-game home set against the Tulane Green Wave. Opening day will be on Friday at 2 p.m. and then both Saturday and Sunday's games will be at 1 p.m.

COVERAGE: All Pepperdine home games will be broadcast live on WaveCasts, with audio broadcasts also available for selected road games.

FOLLOW AND LIKE WAVES BASEBALL: Be sure and join Pepperdine's growing communities on Facebook and Twitter today. Follow and like Waves baseball on Facebook (Pepperdine Baseball) or Twitter (@PEPPBASEBALL).

HOME SWEET HOME: In 41 years of baseball at Eddy D. Field Stadium, the Waves own a 887-359-13 (.710) record. Last year the Waves went 22-7 in Malibu, matching the lowest home loss total since 2008 and marking the 27th time in program history the team has notched at least 20 home victories. The program record for home wins was set back in 1985 when the Waves went 31-4 at Eddy D. Field Stadium and the record for home winning percentage was set in 1992 (.942, 24-1-1).

SEASON OPENERS: In their history, the Waves are 41-19-1 in season openers. Under head coach Steve Rodriguez, Pepperdine owns an 8-3 record in its last 11 openers.

COACHES POLL: With the release of the 2015 WCC Preseason Coaches Poll, Pepperdine was picked to finish second in the conference. The Waves tallied 72 total points in the coaches poll, with three first-place votes, to sit behind cross-town rival LMU (77 points, 6 first place). San Diego received the remaining first-place vote. The defending champion Waves were picked second in the preseason poll last year as well. Pepperdine also placed one player on the preseason all-conference team with Hutton Moyer making the list as an infielder.

WAVES ROSTER BREAKDOWN: This year's Waves squad features a good balance of veterans and young talent, with 18 returners and 15 newcomers on the roster. The Waves have two seniors, six juniors, 12 sophomores and 15 freshmen. Two of the four Waves' probable starting pitchers are returners and six of the probable starting position players were with the team last season as well.

OPENING AT HOME: The Waves open the 2015 season with a three-game set against Tulane this weekend at Eddy D. Field Stadium. The series kicks off a string of 11 non-conference home games in Pepperdine's first 12 contests to open the season.

WCC CHAMPS: The Waves won the regular-season WCC Championship last year, making it the program's 17th regular-season title and second in the past three years after winning the 2012 title. Pepperdine also grabbed the conference tournament title, going 3-0 in Stockton, Calif. to lock up the WCC's automatic bid. It was just the second year the WCC has used the four-team format and the first time the Waves have won it.

POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Waves have made their 28th appearance in NCAA postseason play last season, advancing to the first ever NCAA Super Regional since the round was instated in 1999. Pepperdine advanced by winning the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Regional, defeating Cal Poly and Arizona State to move on. The Waves eventually fell to TCU, two games to one in the best of three series. Pepperdine won a College World Series title in 1992 and has appeared in the College World Series twice (`79, `92).

ALL-WCC HONORS: Aaron Brown, Corey Miller, Eric Karch, Austin Davidson and Hutton Moyer were all named to the All-WCC first team and Aaron Barnett and Matt Maurer earned honorable mention. Barnett, Manny Jefferson and Brandon Caruso all earned All-Freshman team honors. The five first team honorees this season is the highest total since 2008 for the Waves. It is also the first time in program history that Pepperdine has had three players make the WCC All-Freshman team.

WCC COACH OF THE YEAR: Head Coach Steve Rodriguez earned his second WCC Coach of the Year award this season after leading the Waves to a regular-season title. The regular-season title was the 17th overall for the program and the fifth in Rodriguez's 11 seasons at Pepperdine. It was also the 14th Coach of the Year award for a Waves coach.

IN THE RANKINGS: The Waves were at least receiving votes in the national rankings for 13 of the 15 weeks last regular-season and finished ranked in all of the major national polls. Of the four major ranking outlets, the Waves finished the season rated No. 12 by three of them and No. 14 by one. The NCBWA, Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball all had Pepperdine ranked 12th in the country, while the USA Today Coaches Poll had the Waves at No. 14. The No. 12 final ranking was the highest the Waves had finished a season since their NCAA Championship season in 1992, when they ended the year as the No. 1 team in the country. Pepperdine was ranked as high as No. 11 in the polls last year.

ABOUT PEPPERDINE UNIVERSITY: Pepperdine boasts a one-of-a-kind athletic department with unprecedented success for a school of its size. The Waves have won NCAA Division I championships in five different men's sports - one of just 16 schools to have accomplished this feat - and nine overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment and is the only school not affiliated with a BCS-level conference. The Waves have earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, three times (most recently in 2011-12). Located in scenic Malibu, Calif., the university overlooks the Pacific Ocean and its campus and athletic facilities are regularly voted among the nation's most beautiful. Pepperdine, which is affiliated with the Church of Christ, ranks #57 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.