Game Notes

THIS WEEK FOR THE WAVES: The Pepperdine baseball team plays its lone game on the road this week, traveling to UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday for a non-conference contest. First pitch will be at 3 p.m.

COVERAGE: The Waves lone game this week will have an audio only broadcast on WaveCasts. Also check PepperdineSports.com for a link to live stats.

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).

LAST WEEK FOR THE WAVES: The Waves went 2-2 last week, closing the weekend with a series victory over Saint Mary's at home. Pepperdine's two losses were heartbreakers, as the Waves fell 2-0 to No. 10 USC in 12 innings on Tuesday and then dropped the second game of the series to Saint Mary's, 2-1, after giving up runs in the eighth and ninth. The Waves opened the weekend series with a gem from A.J. Puckett, who tossed a complete-game shutout in a 7-0 win for the Waves. Pepperdine then downed the Gaels 6-3 on Sunday to take the series.

SCHEDULE: Tuesday, April 14 - 3 p.m. (PT) Santa Barbara

STARTERS: PEP RHP Kiko Garcia (0-3, 6.95 ERA) vs UCSB RHP Chris Clements (0-0, 3.86 ERA)

WINNING WAYS: Pepperdine has climbed into a tie for second place in the WCC standings after a 2-4 start to conference play. The Waves have won 10 of their last 12 WCC contests. Pepperdine started the run with a sweep at Portland and followed that by winning two of three at Pacific. The Waves scored another sweep at home against Santa Clara and then took two of three from Saint Mary's this past weekend. 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.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK: A.J. Puckett picked up WCC Pitcher of the Week honors after he won the opening game of the Waves' series against Saint Mary's, tossing a complete-game, five-hit shutout to down the Gaels 7-0 on Friday. Puckett struck out seven batters and did not allow a single free base in his second complete-game shutout of the year. He used 101 pitches to cruise through the Gaels' order in just over two and a half hours. All five hits the Waves' righty allowed were singles and Saint Mary's runners only made it past first in three innings. Puckett faced only one batter over the minimum through the first five frames.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Hutton Moyer picked up the Waves' first WCC Player of the Week award on earlier this year 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 1.70 ERA in 69.0 innings pitched. He has only thrown less than six innings in a start once this year and has only given up multiple runs four times in nine appearances, allowing three runs only twice. McClelland has 49 strikeouts on the year and has given up just 12 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.

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.

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.