NotesWCC

WCC Tournament Central

THIS WEEK FOR THE WAVES: The Pepperdine baseball team opens the WCC Tournament as the fourth seed on Thursday against top-seeded Saint Mary's at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, Calif. The Waves are the defending WCC Tournament Champions.

SCHEDULE
Thursday, May 26
3 pm - Game 1: #1 Saint Mary's vs. #4 Pepperdine
7 pm - Game 2: #2 BYU vs. #3 Gonzaga
Friday, May 27
12 pm G3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser
3:30 pm G4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
7:30 pm G5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser
Saturday, May 28
3 pm G6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
7 pm *Game 7: (if necessary)

COVERAGE: All games of the WCC Tournament will be broadcast live on TheW.tv, free of charge. Visit WCCsports.com for more information on the Tournament.

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 won their seventh straight series to clinch a spot in the WCC Tournament, beating Pacific two games to one. The Waves won the first two contests before dropping their finale. The Waves also picked up a win at CSUN last week. Pepperdine closed the regular season 28-22, 16-11 WCC.

WCC TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The Waves are making their third straight appearance in the WCC Tournament, having won the last two. Since moving to its current four-team format in 2013, the Waves have won two of the last three and appeared in three of four. In its history, Pepperdine has won seven WCC Tournament/Championship Series titles. The Waves also have 17 WCC regular-season crowns.

SHUT 'EM DOWN: Waves closer Ryan Wilson has quietly become one of the most dominant bullpen arms in the country. Wilson has a 0.53 ERA and six saves this year. His most impressive performance came at Saint Mary's when he entered the game in the seventh inning and tossed 6.1 scoreless innings to lead the Waves to a 3-1 13th inning victory. In 33.2 innings Wilson has given up just two earned runs, 10 hits and 14 walks, all while striking out 35 batters.

THE STREAK: The Waves' ace A.J. Puckett compiled a remarkable streak of 45.2 scoreless innings and 57.1 innings without an earned run which was broken against BYU. Both streaks are Pepperdine records and the scoreless innings streak is the third longest in NCAA history and the longest since Todd Helton's 47 scoreless innings in 1994. The streak without an earned run spanned nine starts and lasted over two months (March 4-May 5).

PLAYER/PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Manny Jefferson earned WCC Player of the Week honors earlier this year 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 following two weeks, most recently after tossing a complete-game shutout of Portland in which he struck out 12 batters and walked none.

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.

ONE FOR THE TEAM: Pepperdine third baseman Chris Fornaci already owns the Pepperdine record for hit-by-pitches in a season with 24 in 2015 and now has 20 in 2016, which is the second most in a season by a Wave.

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)

QUICK HITS: Manny Jefferson is fifth in the nation in home runs by a shortstop ... Brandon Caruso is tied for the sixth most outfield assists in the country with eight ... Waves are tied for the fifth most OF assists as a team with 18 ... Aaron Barnett reached base in 23 straight games earlier this year.

STAT RANKINGS
Team:
ERA: 3.55 - 2nd WCC, 44th NCAA
Fielding Percentage: .977 - 1st WCC, 29th NCAA
Hits allowed/9: 8.30 - 1st WCC, 50th NCAA
Home Runs: 42 - 2nd WCC, 63rd NCAA
Shutouts: 8 - 1st WCC, 7th NCAA
WHIP: 1.26 - 1st WCC, 33rd NCAA
BB allowed/9: 3.07 - 2nd WCC, 38th NCAA
Individual:
ERA: A.J. Puckett 1.07 - 1st WCC, 3rd NCAA
Hit by pitch: Chris Fornaci 20 - 1st WCC, 4th NCAA
Hits Allowed/9 innings: Puckett 5.85 - 1st WCC, 14th NCAA
Home Runs: Manny Jefferson 11 - 3rd WCC
Brad Anderson 9 - 5th WCC
Saves: Ryan Wilson 6: 3rd WCC
Strikeout/BB: A.J. Puckett 4.23 - 4th WCC
AB/K: Aaron Barnett 14.3 - 1st WCC, 43rd NCAA
Wins: A.J. Puckett 9 - 3rd WCC, 21st NCAA
WHIP: A.J. Puckett 0.89 - 1st WCC, 7th NCAA

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).

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.

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.