Waves Open Conference Play at Home

MALIBU, Calif. –After a cancellation of Tuesday's scheduled game against Cal Poly due to rain, the #16/21 Pepperdine baseball team begins its quest for a 26th West Coast Conference championship, hosting San Francisco in the first conference series of the year.

SCHEDULE:
Friday, March 13 - Pepperdine (12-3) vs. San Francisco (8-8) at 3 PM PT
Saturday, March 14 - Pepperdine vs. San Francisco at 1 PM PT
Sunday, March 15 - Pepperdine vs. San Francisco at 1 PM PT

CORONAVIRUS UPDATE: At this time, Pepperdine University has decided to restrict attendance at home baseball games. Fans will not be permitted to attend, with the exception of two family members per student-athlete and coaches for both the home and visiting teams. Although fans will not be able to attend, all home games will be broadcast via the WCC Network. Links to broadcast as well as live stats are available at pepperdinewaves.com.

SERIES VS. SAN FRANCISCO: The Waves hold a dominating 122-53 advantage in the all-time series, but the Dons took two of three last year in San Francisco.

IN THE RANKINGS: The Waves jumped in the rankings this week in both Collegiate Baseball Magazine and Baseball America and were ranked at #16 in the nation. D1 Baseball has the Waves ranked at #21.

LAST TIME OUT: The Waves matched up with then-#16 Michigan last week, taking two games out of three.

In the first game, the Waves jumped out to an early lead and scored nine unanswered runs from the sixth inning on to trounce the Wolverines 12-2. Wil Jensen threw six innings of four-hit, two-run baseball to pick up the win.

In the second game of the weekend, the Wolverines defeated the Waves 7-4. Justin Lutes connected for his fourth home run of the year.

In Saturday's second game, after Michigan led the game off with a home run, starter Gunnar Groen settled in, going 6.1 innings and giving up only two hits. Mike Malinchak went 4-for-4 including a solo home run in the sixth inning.

PLAYER/PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Mike Malinchak was named WCC Player of the Week on March 9 after a blistering 9-for-12 output against then-ranked #16 Michigan. He hit a home run and drove in seven total runs on the weekend. Cooper Chandler was awarded with the Waves' first weekly award on Feb. 24 for his performance against Akron. He took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against the Zips, striking out a career-high 10 batters.

FOLLOW AND LIKE WAVES BASEBALL: Be sure and join the Waves' growing community on Facebook (Pepperdine Baseball), Instagram (@pepperdinebaseball) and Twitter (@PeppBaseball) today.

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.

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 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 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.

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.

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Players Mentioned

Cooper Chandler

Billy Cook

Gunnar Groen

Wil Jensen

Justin Lutes

Mike Malinchak

Aharon Modlin

Wyatt Young

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