MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine baseball team finishes its season this weekend, heading to Stockton for a Thursday-Saturday matchup with Pacific.
SCHEDULE:
Thursday (5/27) - Pepperdine at Pacific at 5 p.m. PT
Friday (5/28) - Pepperdine at Pacific at 5 p.m. PT
Saturday (5/29) - Pepperdine at Pacific at 1 p.m. PT
COVERAGE: All three games against the Tigers will be broadcast live on the WCC Network. Links to the broadcasts as well as live stats are available on the baseball schedule page on PepperdineWaves.com. Fans can also follow @PeppBaseball on Twitter for live, in-game updates.
LAST WEEK: The Waves traveled to the Pacific Northwest for a matchup with BYU. Pepperdine took game 1 6-3 on the backs of
Justin Lutes, Aharon Modlin and
John Peck, who all homered in the game. While BYU took the next two games,
Billy Cook hit three home runs in Saturday's finale, the first Wave to do so since 1995.
SERIES VS. PACIFIC: Pepperdine leads the all-time series against the Tigers 19-15. In 2019, the Tigers took two of three against the Waves. In each of the last two series, the home team has taken the series.
FOLLOW AND LIKE WAVES BASEBALL: Be sure and join the Waves' growing community on Facebook (Pepperdine Baseball), Instagram (@pepperdinebaseball) and Twitter (@PeppBaseball).
WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Billy Cook was named West Coast Conference Player of the Week on May 17 for his efforts against Santa Clara in the Waves' final home series. The senior had five hits over 12 at bats, good for a .417 average and a 1.083 OPS. Of his five hits, two were home runs. The first home run of the weekend came in Saturday's game, and was the second leg of back-to-back home runs to take the lead. Cook's home run would prove to be the game-winning run as the Waves won 8-4. His second home run of the weekend came in the sixth inning on Sunday, breaking a 2-2 tie. This home run was also the game-winning run, as the Waves defeated the Broncos 3-2. Cook also had an RBI triple on Saturday, bringing his RBI total for the weekend to three.
Ryan Johnson was the first Wave to earn West Coast Conference Player of the Week on March 9. The sophomore had a great week, hitting .500 (8-for-16) with 11 RBI. On Sunday against CSU Fullerton, Johnson had a 4-for-5 day, hitting a two-run home run and driving in five total runs.
WCC LEADERS: Billy Cook holds the WCC lead in home runs with 16.
Justin Lutes is right behind Cook with 13 homers on the year.
Reese Alexiades leads the conference with a .388 batting average.
Ryan Johnson's 41 RBI is third best in the WCC. As a team, the Waves lead the conference in home runs, with 56 on the year. The team is also third in the conference, hitting at a .267 clip.
COACHING STAFF: 2021 marks the sixth 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 last year 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 #49 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
