Game Notes

THIS WEEK FOR THE WAVES: The Pepperdine baseball team returns home for its final week of the regular season. The Waves have four games within the friendly confines of Eddy D. Field Stadium, hosting Cal State Northridge for a non-conference matchup on Tuesday afternoon and then welcoming Gonzaga to close the regular-season with three games over the weekend.

COVERAGE: Friday's game will be shown on TheW.tv as part of the conference's "Friday Night Baseball" package. All other games will have video broadcasts on WaveCasts and live statistics will also be available at PepperdineSports.com.

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 dropped two of three games last weekend at San Diego. The teams played a doubleheader after getting rained out on Friday, splitting two games on Sunday. The Toreros also won on Saturday, clinching the WCC title.

SCHEDULE
Tuesday, May 12 - 3 p.m. (PT)
Friday, May 15 - 3 p.m. (PT)
Saturday, May 16 - 1 p.m. (PT)
Sunday, May 17 - 1 p.m. (PT)

WINNING WAYS: Pepperdine has climbed into second place in the WCC standings after a 2-4 start to conference play. The Waves have won 12 of their last 15 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.

WCC TOURNAMENT: Pepperdine is in the mix for a spot in the WCC tournament as the top four teams in the conference standings make the postseason. San Diego is the only team in the conference that has clinched a spot, thus far, locking up the top seed last weekend. The Waves sit in a tie for second place, holding the tie-breaker over San Francisco. One win for the Waves locks up a spot in the four-team tournament. Six teams are vying for the last three spots, with USF, BYU, LMU, Gonzaga and Santa Clara also in the mix.

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.

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.

CSUN OPPONENT INFO: The Matadors come in having lost two of three to UC Davis this past weekend and dropped three of four overall on the week. CSUN sits in eighth in the Big West standings

GONZAGA OPPONENT INFO: The Bulldogs come into play having won two of three at Pacific. Gonzaga also plays two games at Oregon before heading south to take on the Waves. At 12-12, the Bulldogs are in sixth in the WCC standings and are still in contention for a spot in the WCC playoffs.

STAT RANKINGS:

• McClelland/Puckett 3rd WCC in complete games (2)
• Caruso 6th WCC in doubles (14)
• McClelland 30th NCAA, 2nd WCC in ERA (1.78)
• McClelland 5th WCC in hits/9 (6.99)
• Moyer 57th NCAA, 1st WCC in home runs (10)
• Moyer 5th WCC in runs scored (36)
• Jefferson 2nd WCC in sacrifice flies (5)
• Moyer 5th WCC in total bases (89)
• Barnett 5th NCAA, 1st WCC toughest to strikeout (20.8 AB/K)
• Moyer 2nd WCC in triples (3)
• Wilson 38th NCAA, 2nd WCC in wins (7)

• Waves 3rd WCC in BB (170)
• Waves 2nd WCC in double plays (38)
• Waves 3rd WCC in doubles (83)
• Waves 3rd WCC in ERA (3.73)
• Waves 40th NCAA, 1st WCC in home runs (37)
• Waves 1st WCC in sacrifice flies (22)
• Waves 1st WCC in slugging percentage (.408)

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).

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).

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.