Game Notes

THIS WEEK FOR THE WAVES: The Pepperdine baseball team hits the road against UCLA and Saint Mary's this week. The Waves play a non-conference game at UCLA on Tuesday and then a three-game series at Saint Mary's starting Friday.

SCHEDULE
Tuesday, May 10 - 6 p.m. (Los Angeles, Calif.)
Friday, May 13 - 3 p.m. (Moraga, Calif.)
Saturday, May 14 - 2 p.m. (Moraga, Calif.)
Sunday, May 15 - 1 p.m. (Moraga, Calif.)

COVERAGE: All three games against Saint Mary's will be shown live on TheW.tv and Tuesday's game will have an audio only broadcast on WaveCasts via PepperdineSports.com. Live stats will be available at UCLABruins.com and SMCGaels.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 a week in which they took two out of three games from then first-place BYU at home. Pepperdine dropped the opener, but rallied to take the last two games of the series. Chandler Blanchard and Ryan Wilson combined to shut out BYU for the first time this season in the second game of the series and then a Brad Anderson grand slam led the Waves to victory in the finale. The Waves lost their midweek contest at UCSB.

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 this past week 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). Since March 4 Puckett has struck out 72 batters, while giving up just 18 walks and 42 hits. Puckett leads the WCC and is fifth in the NCAA with a 1.17 ERA.

PLAYER/PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Manny Jefferson earned WCC Player of the Week honors three 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 following 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 fourth place in the WCC standings, with the top four teams making the postseason tournament at the end of the year. The Waves are two games back of Saint Mary's for first place and sit a half game ahead of both LMU and San Francisco for fourth place. The Waves own the tiebreaker with both teams. 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.

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 18 in 2016, which is tied for the second most in a season by a Wave.

PEPPERDINE CONNECTION: Gaels' skipper Eric Valenzuela played for Pepperdine in 2001 after transferring to the school from Arizona State. He was the captain of the Waves' squad that went 42-18 that season and won a WCC title.

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: .973 - 2nd WCC, 53rd NCAA
Hit by Pitch: 53 - 2nd WCC, 67th NCAA
Hits allowed/9: 8.62 - 1st WCC, 79th NCAA
Home Runs: 37 - 2nd WCC, 58th NCAA
Shutouts: 6 - 1st WCC, 15th NCAA
WHIP: 1.31 - 1st WCC, 45th NCAA
BB allowed/9: 3.18 - 2nd WCC, 44th NCAA
Individual:
ERA: A.J. Puckett 1.17 - 1st WCC, 5th NCAA
Hit by pitch: Chris Fornaci 18 - 1st WCC, 4th NCAA
Hits Allowed/9 innings: Puckett 6.10 - 2nd WCC, 29th NCAA
Home Runs: Manny Jefferson 11 - 2nd WCC, 45th NCAA
Brad Anderson 9 - 4th WCC, 99th NCAA
Saves: Ryan Wilson 5: 4th WCC
Slugging: Manny Jefferson .583 - 4th WCC
Strikeouts: A.J. Puckett 81 - 4th WCC, 48th NCAA
AB/K: Aaron Barnett 12.8 - 2nd WCC, 68th NCAA
Wins: A.J. Puckett 7 - 3rd WCC, 52nd NCAA
WHIP: A.J. Puckett 0.95 - 1st WCC, 29th 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.