Final Stats

Box Score

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - A.J. Puckett had yet another brilliant outing for the Pepperdine baseball team on Saturday, leading the Waves to a 7-1 win over Santa Clara on the road in a West Coast Conference matchup.

The Waves' ace threw 8.0 scoreless innings in the game, extending his streak to five straight games without giving up an earned run. The Pepperdine offense scored in five different innings, recording 11 hits on the day. The win moves the Waves to 14-14 overall, 5-5 WCC, while Santa Clara falls to 12-15, 2-5 WCC.

The Waves got Puckett (Danville, Calif./De La Salle HS) an early lead on Saturday, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first thanks to a Bronco error and an RBI single from Brandon Caruso (Pasadena, Calif./Loyola HS).

Manny Jefferson (Lakewood, Calif./Lakewood HS) added to the lead in the fourth with a solo-homer to straight away centerfield. Brad Anderson (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza HS) followed with a solo home run of his own in the following inning to make it a 4-0 Pepperdine lead. Jefferson's home run was his team-leading seventh of the year and Anderson's was his sixth.

Puckett kept Santa Clara off the board in the bottom of the fifth, striking a batter out looking to end the inning with runners on second and third. The Broncos had runners on the corners with one out in the inning, but Puckett got a popup and strikeout to end the threat.

Caruso doubled in a run in the eighth and Chris Fornaci (Walnut Creek, Calif./De La Salle HS) singled him home to give the Waves a pair of insurance runs. Anderson added another with a single after a Bronco error in the ninth inning, putting Pepperdine up 7-0.

Puckett finished the day giving up just three hits and three walks in his eight shutout innings. He struck out seven batters. The 8.0 scoreless innings give the junior righty a streak of 38.2 innings without allowing an earned run. Only two unearned runs have been scored off of Puckett during that time.

Santa Clara loaded the bases with no outs in the ninth after Puckett's exit and finally scored a run on a sacrifice fly, but Kiko Garcia (Chula Vista, Calif./St. Augustine HS) came in to get the last outs and end the contest.

Anderson and Caruso were both 2-for-4 at the plate on Saturday, driving in two runs apiece to lead the Waves. TC Florentine had the only two-hit day for Santa Clara.

The Waves and Broncos wrap their series up with a doubleheader tomorrow at 11 a.m. Watch both games live on TheW.tv.