MALIBU, Calif. – For the eighth year in a row, the Pepperdine baseball team had multiple members of the team be selected in the MLB Draft, which concluded on Wednesday.
Easton Lucas was the Waves' highest drafted player, taken in the 14th round by the Miami Marlins.
Other Waves drafter were
Quincy McAfee (Cincinnati Reds, 26th Round)
, Jonathan Pendergast (Baltimore Orioles, 28th Round)
, Wil Jensen (Oakland Athletics, 28th Round) and
Matthew Kanfer (Los Angeles Dodgers, 36th Round).
Lucas was a breakout star in his final year as a Wave, putting together the best season of his career. As the steady Saturday starter, Lucas went 5-4 overall and 4-2 in conference play, striking out 57 batters against WCC opponents, tied for second best in the conference. In league play, he put up a 3.32 ERA and walked only nine batters. He picked up his first postseason honor as he was named to the All-West Coast Conference second team.
McAfee (Houston, Texas/Westside HS) was second on the team in batting average as a junior, hitting .310 in 47 games. He led the team in doubles for the second year in a row with 15 and was third in total hits with 58. In his career, McAfee started 147 of the 149 games he played in and had a career batting average of .275. He was named to the WCC All-Freshman team in 2017 and the All-WCC second team in 2018.
One of the most dominant pitchers in the WCC over the past two seasons, Pendergast backed up his 2018 WCC Pitcher of the Year campaign with another rock solid season. The senior from San Diego went 7-3 on the year with a 3.51 ERA. He was second on the team in strikeouts with 64 over 76.2 innings.
Jensen did not get too much action this year, just 5.1 innings pitched, due to coming back from Tommy John surgery last year. In those five innings, he struck out three batters. Last year, he was on pace for an outstanding season, going 5-0 with a miniscule 0.74 ERA over 48.1 innings before going down to injury.
Kanfer had a great four years in Malibu and wrapped it up with one of his best seasons. One of only two players to start and play in all 49 games, Kanfer was third on the team in batting average, hitting .301. He was second on the team with three home runs and 10 doubles. A career .291 hitter, Kanfer was selected to the WCC All-Freshman team in 2016, and the All-WCC first team as a junior in 2018.
