Game Notes

THIS WEEK FOR THE WAVES: The Pepperdine baseball team faces No. 10 USC at home for a 3 p.m. contest on Tuesday and then continues its homestand with a three-game WCC series against Saint Mary's running Friday-Sunday.

COVERAGE: Friday's game will be shown live on TheW.tv as part of the WCC's "Friday Night Baseball" package and all other home games will be shown on WaveCasts. Live statistics will also be available at PepperdineSports.com.

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LAST WEEK FOR THE WAVES: The Waves went 3-1 last week, falling on the road to Cal Poly and then coming home to sweep Santa Clara in a three-game WCC series. The Waves won on a walk-off in the opener against the Broncos and then scored six runs in each of the next two games to finish off the sweep.

SCHEDULE
Tuesday, April 14 - 3 p.m. (PT) Malibu
Friday, April 17 - 3 p.m. (PT) Malibu
Saturday, April 18 - 1 p.m. (PT) Malibu
Sunday, April 19 - 1 p.m. (PT) Malibu

WINNING WAYS: Pepperdine has climbed into third place in the WCC standings after a 2-4 start to conference play. The Waves have won eight of their last nine WCC contests and nine of their last 11 overall. Pepperdine started the run with a sweep at Portland and followed that by winning two of three at Pacific. The Waves scored another sweep this past weekend when they took all three games at home against Santa Clara. During that stretch the Waves have hit .289 and scored 6.1 runs per game while holding opponents to 4.1 scores per contest.

WALK-OFF WINs:

• In the team's third contest of the year, Jordan Qsar hit a walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth, helping the Waves comeback from a 1-0 deficit with the two-run shot. It was just the second hit of the day for Pepperdine.
• The Waves came away with a dramatic win against Cal Poly two weeks ago, getting a walk-off homer from Chris Fornaci in the 10th inning to steal a 9-8 victory at home from the Mustangs. The final score was the only time the Waves led in the ballgame, coming back from a 6-0 deficit to grab the victory.
• The Waves opened their sweep of Santa Clara with a walk-off win, getting the game-winning single from Aaron Barnett in the bottom of the ninth. The Waves had tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth inning before Barnett drove in the game-winning run.

WCC PLAY: Since starting WCC play, the Waves have raised their team batting average over 50 points, from .253 in non-conference action to .310 in WCC play, and are scoring almost two runs more per game (6.4 WCC, 4.7 non-conference). Hutton Moyer leads the team with a .385 average and is tied for the team lead with 11 RBI in WCC play. Matt Gelalich went from hitting .147 in non-conference games to .343 vs. WCC foes and has six of his seven extra-base hits in WCC games. Jordan Qsar also has 11 RBI in conference play and has a .327 average. Moyer is slugging .800 with 11 extra-base hits, including four homers, in WCC action. Pepperdine has nine players hitting over .300 in WCC game.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Hutton Moyer picked up the Waves' first WCC Player of the Week award on last week after leading the team to a 3-1 record. Moyer hit .529 with five RBI and team-best nine hits. Moyer hit three homers and two doubles, slugging 1.176 in 17 at-bats over the four-game stretch. The junior second-baseman had a .600 on-base percentage and scored a team-high seven runs. Moyer hit safely in each game last week and had multiple hits in three of the four contests. He now leads the team with a .323 average on the year and is hitting .385 in WCC play.

ACE IN THE HOLE: Jackson McClelland has proved himself a true ace since moving into the Friday role this season, leading the team with a 1.83 ERA in 64.0 innings pitched. He has yet to throw less than six innings in a start this year and has only given up multiple runs four times in nine appearances, allowing three runs only twice. McClelland has 45 strikeouts on the year and has given up just 11 extra-base hits. McClelland tossed his second complete game against Portland, allowing just one unearned run in the effort. He is 5-2 on the year.

HOME SWEET HOME: In 41 years of baseball at Eddy D. Field Stadium, the Waves own an 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).

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.

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.