Senior right-handed pitcher Jonathan Pendergast was last year's WCC Pitcher of the Year as he went 7-4 with a 2.69 earned-run average. We discussed his goals for his final season, his career growth and his post-graduation plans:
 
Q: Baseball season starts this weekend. How does it feel going into your senior season?
 
A: I'm really excited. I'm ready to get after it one last year with my teammates and hopefully make it the best year here. We're really excited.
 
Q: Last year, you were WCC Pitcher of the Year. How do you think you can top that?
 
A: I'm just going out there trying to do exactly what I did last year, if not better. I attribute a lot of that success to my teammates. I'm just hoping they have the same kind of year, so I can get back there and we can keep building from what we did last year. We won the conference last year, but that's only the start of what we want to do.
 
Q: You made a really big leap between your sophomore and junior seasons. What was the reason behind your growth?
 
A: Summer baseball is a lot of working on stuff and getting better. I guess I can attribute it partly to that. A lot of it was mental growth, like knowing what I expect from myself, what I want to do better, and how I can get there. It was putting in the work mentally and physically to be able to do that.
 
Q: What are your thoughts on winning the WCC regular-season title last year?
 
A: It was awesome and the best experience I've had since being here, but it's only the start of what we want to do. We accomplished one of our goals last year by winning the title, but we're far from doing everything we want to do. While we're excited about it, we're going to come into this season with a chip on our shoulder, keep doing what we were doing last year, and do better than that.
 
Q: How can this year's team repeat or go further than last year's?
 
A: We have a great group of guys so I think the talent is definitely there. We've been coming together a lot as a team lately, so we're going to keep building that strong bond with each other. The chemistry is what will get us to that title.
 
Q: What goals do you have for your final season?
 
A: Personally, I want to win WCC Pitcher of the year again and have a low ERA. I can't do that without the help of my teammates. My number one goal is to win with my teammates and get to Omaha. That's the main goal; everything besides that is secondary.
 
Q: What is the best piece of advice you've been told during your time at Pepperdine?
 
A: I'd probably say, "Push yourself as hard as you can and then push yourself harder than that." You never know what you have left in the tank. You never want to come home from a game, test, or anything without feeling like you gave everything that you had. That's something that I learned from my freshman year to now. Knowing you went out there and did everything you could to win; that's what you want to feel at the end of the day.
 
Q: What are your plans post-graduation?
 
A: I'm looking to still play baseball, so we'll see what happens with that. Hopefully, my team and I have a good year so a lot of us can keep playing after that. Other than that, I'll probably go home to San Diego and maybe get an internship. I've been busy with baseball these past four years, so I haven't had time to do that. I'm just focusing on baseball and school right now. I'll get my degree, hopefully keep playing, and then go from there.