Game Notes

THIS WEEK FOR THE WAVES: The Pepperdine baseball team hits the road against No. 16 UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday and then hosts first-place BYU for a three-game WCC series starting on Thursday. The Waves are currently two games back of the Cougars for the top spot in the crowded conference standings.

SCHEDULE
Tuesday, May 3 - 3 p.m. (Santa Barbara, Calif.)
Thursday, May 5 - 3 p.m. (Eddy D. Field Stadium)
Friday, May 6 - 3 p.m. (Eddy D. Field Stadium)
Saturday, May 7 - 12 p.m. (Eddy D. Field Stadium)

COVERAGE: All three games against BYU will be shown live on TheW.tv and Tuesday's game will have an audio only broadcast on WaveCasts via PepperdineSports.com. Friday's game against BYU will be featured on TheW.tv as the conference's "Game of the Week." Links to live stats for all four games can be found on 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: The Waves are coming off an off-week after a break in the schedule for finals. Prior to that Pepperdine went 2-2, taking two of three games at home from Portland in a WCC series and also dropping a midweek contest to UCLA. The Waves won the final game of the Portland series thanks to some 10th inning heroics, scoring three late runs. A.J. Puckett pitched a complete-game shutout in the opener.

UNTOUCHABLE: The Waves' ace A.J. Puckett hasn't allowed an earned run in his last seven starts and 54.2 innings pitched, lowering his ERA to a league-leading 1.01. He hasn't allowed a run of any kind in 43.0 innings pitched. Both streaks are the longest in the nation this season. Puckett tossed 9.0 shutout innings in his start against Portland last time out, striking out a career-high 12 batters without allowing a walk. In his last seven starts Puckett has allowed just 32 hits, while striking out 58 batters and walking only 12. His 54.2 inning without an earned run is the longest in Pepperdine history since game-by-game records began being kept.

PLAYER/PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Manny Jefferson earned WCC Player of the Week honors two weeks ago after he led the team with six hits, four of which were homers. A.J. Puckett then followed that up with Pitcher of the Week honors the last two weeks, most recently after tossing a complete-game shutout of Portland in which he struck out 12 batters and walked none.

POSTSEASON CHASE: The Waves currently sit in fifth place in the WCC standings, with the top four teams making the postseason tournament at the end of the year. The Waves are half a game back of the LMU Lions, but Pepperdine owns the tiebreaker after their series at LMU. This year's WCC Tournament will again be held in Stockton, Calif. at Banner Island Ballpark, May 26-28. The Waves have won the last two WCC Tournaments.

STREAK STOPPERS: The Waves ended a 35-game regular-season non-conference winning streak for Texas A&M earlier this year, beating the then-No. 4 Aggies 7-5 in the opening game of the teams' three-game series. Pepperdine got a game-tying three-run homer from Brad Anderson in the third inning and then got the go-ahead two-run homer from Manny Jefferson in the sixth. A.J. Puckett picked up the win in the game. After giving up four runs through the first four innings, the Waves' ace kept Texas A&M off the board into the eighth inning, tossing 4.1 scoreless innings and setting down 11 Aggies in a row at one point.

STREAKING: Current Waves streaks...
A.J. Puckett - 54.2 consecutive innings without an earned run, 43.0 scoreless innings
Aaron Barnett - Has reached base in 20 straight games
Matthew Kanfer - Has reached base in 14 straight games
Chase Lambert - Has a five game hitting streak

ROSTER BREAKDOWN
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 22/10
Starters Returning/Lost (lineup): 7/2
Starters Returning/Lost (pitchers): 2/1
Newcomers, Off Redshirts: 14
Class: SR-3, JR-9 (1-RS), SO-10 (2-RS), 14-FR (2-RS)

STAT RANKINGS
Team:
Fielding Percentage: .974 - 2nd WCC, 51st NCAA
Hit by Pitch: 50 - 2nd WCC, 62nd NCAA
Hits allowed/9: 8.64 - 1st WCC, 78th NCAA
Home Runs: 34 - 2nd WCC, 60th NCAA
Shutouts: 5 - 1st WCC, 20th NCAA
WHIP: 1.32 - 2nd WCC, 54th NCAA
BB allowed/9: 3.24 - 2nd WCC, 49th NCAA
Individual:
ERA: A.J. Puckett 1.01 - 1st WCC, 5th NCAA
Hit by pitch: Chris Fornaci 16 - 1st WCC, 6th NCAA
Hits Allowed/9 innings: Puckett 5.83 - 1st WCC, 20th NCAA
Home Runs: Manny Jefferson 10 - 2nd WCC, 48th NCAA
Brad Anderson 7 - 6th WCC
Slugging: Manny Jefferson .579 - 5th WCC
K/BB ratio: 4.69 - 3rd WCC, 65th NCAA
Strikeouts: A.J. Puckett 75 - 4th WCC, 43rd NCAA
AB/K: Aaron Barnett 12.5 - 1st WCC, 73rd NCAA
Wins: A.J. Puckett 7 - 3rd WCC, 34th NCAA
WHIP: A.J. Puckett 0.87 - 1st WCC, 8th NCAA

TOP RETURNERS:
Pitchers - RHP A.J. Puckett (7-5, 4.35 ERA, 81 K, 31 BB), LHP Ryan Wilson (8-3, 3.78 ERA, 69 K, 42 BB), RHP Max Gamboa (6-2, 2.89 ERA, 8 SV, 41 K, 20 BB), RHP Chandler Blanchard (4-4, 4.99 ERA, 4 SV, 33 K, 16 BB)
Hitters - OF Brandon Caruso (.309 BA, 26 RBI, 3 HR, 19 2B, 2 3B), C Aaron Barnett (.303 BA, 27 RBI, 10 2B), Brad Anderson (.278 BA, 41 RBI, 10 HR, 8 2B)

2016 COACHES POLL: With the release of the 2016 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 San Diego (76 points, 6 first place). LMU received the remaining first-place vote. The defending conference tournament champion Waves were picked second in the preseason poll last year as well. Pepperdine also placed three players on the preseason all-conference team with Aaron Barnett, Brandon Caruso and Ryan Wilson all on the list.

2015 SEASON CAPSULE: The Waves finished 2015 with a 32-29 overall record and a 17-10 WCC mark. The Waves finished the regular season second in the conference standings, but went on to win a second straight WCC Tournament title to secure the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Waves drew the #4 seed in the Fullerton Regional, but advanced to the regional final after knocking off Clemson and Arizona State. Pepperdine would eventually fall to host Cal State Fullerton, ending the Waves' season.

MOVING ON: Pepperdine lost four key contributors from last year's squad, including two graduated seniors and two draftees. Kolten Yamaguchi, a catcher and designated hitter for the Waves last year, and reliever Mat Snider graduated. Hutton Moyer was selected in the seventh round of the MLB Draft by the Angels and Jackson McClelland was picked in the 15th round by the Blue Jays. Yamaguchi is still with the team serving as a graduate manager.

2015 ALL-WCC: Pepperdine had seven players honored on the WCC postseason awards last season. Hutton Moyer and Brandon Caruso took home All-WCC first team accolades, while Jackson McClelland was named to the All-WCC second team, and Jordan Qsar and Ryan Wilson grabbed All-Freshman Team honors. Aaron Barnett and Matt Gelalich received honorable mention.

COACHING STAFF: 2016 marks the first season of Head Coach Rick Hirtensteiner's tenure at the helm for Pepperdine. Hirtensteiner served as an assistant on the Waves' staff for 17 years prior to taking over for Steve Rodriguez, who left for Baylor this past summer. Hirtensteiner hired Cooper Fouts, who previously served as a volunteer assistant with the Waves from 2011-12, to serve as the team's recruiting coordinator and hitting coach. Hirtensteiner tabbed Rolando Garza to fill the team's role as pitching coach, after former pitching instructor Jon Strauss also left to fill the same role with Rodriguez at Baylor. Fouts was previously an assistant at Utah Valley, while Garza served as the pitching coach at Riverside Community College.

POSTSEASON HISTORY: The Waves made their 29th appearance in NCAA postseason play last season, advancing to the NCAA Fullerton Regional final. In 2014 Pepperdine made its first ever NCAA Super Regional after winning the San Luis Obispo Regional Tournament. 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 (1979, 1992).

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 17 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 #52 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.