MALIBU, Calif. –The Pepperdine baseball team has its home opener this weekend, hosting Akron University for a three-game set. The Waves have a four-game win streak to start the year.
SCHEDULE:
Friday, Feb. 21 - Pepperdine (4-0) vs. Akron (0-2) at 2 PM PT
Saturday, Feb. 22 - Pepperdine vs. Akron at 1 PM PT
Sunday, Feb. 23 - Pepperdine vs. Akron at 1 PM PT
COVERAGE
Links to live stats for all games can be found on peppperdinewaves.com. All three games will be broadcast on the WCC Network.
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Be sure and join the Waves' growing community on Facebook (Pepperdine Baseball), Instagram (@pepperdinebaseball) and Twitter (@PeppBaseball) today.
SERIES VS. AKRON: This will be the first ever meeting between the Waves and Zips, who are in their first season back as a program after a four-year hiatus.
LAST TIME OUT: The Waves played their first midweek game on Tuesday, defeating Cal Poly 9-2 in San Luis Obispo.
Pepperdine had big days from both
Aharon Modlin, who went 3-for-5 with three singles, raising his season average to .529, and
Justin Lutes, who went 2-for-4 with a towering two-run home run in the seventh.
Gunnar Groen got the first win of his collegiate career, taking a a no-hitter into the fifth inning.
WCC PRESEASON: Pepperdine is predicted to finish fourth in the West Coast Conference this year. The whole list is as follows: 1. Gonzaga; 2. BYU; 3. LMU
T-4. Pepperdine; T-4 San Diego; 6. San Francisco; 7. Saint Mary's; 8. Portland; 9. Santa Clara; 10. Pacific.
Rising sophomore infielder
Wyatt Young was named to the preseason All-WCC team.
THE SQUAD: The Waves return 24 players including six returning starting fielders and three starting pitchers. The team's biggest returning producer is
Wyatt Young. A rising sophomore from Honolulu, Hawaii, Young hit .321 in his first season in Malibu last year and was named an All-WCC honorable mention as well as being named to the WCC All-Freshman team. He then went on to play in the Cape Cod League over the summer, earning Cape Cod All-Star honors. Another returning contributor is
Aharon Modlin. Modlin comes off a junior campaign in which he hit .278 for the Waves playing a solid defensive third base.
The Waves also return a number of key pieces from injury. Most notably are two front-line starting pitchers in
Wil Jensen and
Cooper Chandler. Jensen returned for 5.1 innings of work last year after undergoing Tommy John surgery the year before. However, this year he returns to his role as potentially the number one starter for the Waves. Chandler was the WCC Freshman of the Year in 2018, and had a 3.07 ERA and a 3-1 record last year before missing most of the season due to injury. Another returner from injury is
Billy Cook. Cook was having a stellar season before it was derailed by injury. With only 30 games in his season, Cook led the team in home runs with five and was fourth in RBI with 21. He hit .279 and had an .889 OPS.
Pepperdine brings in 11 newcomers, all of which are freshmen.
KEY LOSSES: The Waves lose a number of key contributors, both by the MLB Draft and through graduation. Starters
Jonathan Pendergast and
Easton Lucas were both drafted in 2019, Lucas by the Miami Marlins (has since been traded to the Baltimore Orioles) and Pendergast by the Orioles. Shortstop
Quincy McAfee was drafted to the Cincinnati Reds.
2019 ALL-WCC: Redshirt-junior
Easton Lucas was the highest-earning Wave in the 2019 Postseason Awards, earing All-WCC second team.
Joe Caparis and
Wyatt Young were both named honorable mentions. Young and
Trevor Kniskern were both named to the WCC All-Freshman team.
COACHING STAFF: 2020 marks the fifth 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 in 2015. Hirtensteiner hired
Jim Lawler on an interim basis to fill the team's role as pitching coach after Rolando Garza left after four years. Lawler has over 35 years of collegiate baseball coaching experience, most notably spending 25 years as the pitching coach at Texas A&M. Hirtensteiner hired Pepperdine baseball legend
Danny Worth in the summer of 2018. Worth played for the Waves from 2005-2007, becoming one of the best shortstops in Pepperdine history. He hit .320 over his career, with seven home runs and 108 RBI. After being drafted in the second round by the Detroit Tigers in 2007, Worth made his Major League Baseball debut in May 2010 with the Tigers. Over his six-year MLB career, he had a .223 batting average with two home runs in 149 games played.
POSTSEASON HISTORY: Pepperdine won its only College World Series title in 1992.The Waves made their 30th appearance in NCAA postseason play in 2015, 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.
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 18 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 major 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 #50 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
