MALIBU, California – The Pepperdine baseball team will be back at Eddy D. Field Stadium to host UConn for a weekend series to close out the non-conference weekend schedule.
SCHEDULE:
Friday, March 11 - Pepperdine vs. UConn at 2 PM
Saturday, March 12 - Pepperdine vs. UConn at 1 PM
Sunday, March 13 - Pepperdine vs. UConn at 1 PM
COVERAGE: All three games will be streamed on WCC Network and will have audio only on WaveCasts. Veteran play-by-play man Al Epstein, a 2015 Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, will be behind the microphone for Saturday and Sunday's games and Andrew Rector will be on the call for Friday. Links to broadcasts as well as live stats are available at pepperdinewaves.com.
TICKETS: Patrons must have an e-ticket prior to arriving on campus. Pepperdine students, staff and faculty just need their Pepperdine ID card for entry. Tickets can be found at pepperdinewaves.com/tickets.
ENTRANCE/PARKING: Due to construction on campus, stadium parking and entrance guidance has changed. Please review the most updated information at www.pepperdinewaves.com/tickets.
SERIES VS. UCONN: The Waves and Huskies have not met prior to this series. This will be the first meeting for the two schools.
LAST WEEK: Over the weekend, Pepperdine swept Cal State Fullerton in a three game series, 4-1, 12-2 and 12-8. Pepperdine collected 38 hits through three games and 28 runs.
Devon Walczykowski and
Cam Conley had career performances against the Titans. Walczykowski was 4-for-5 with a solo blast, two doubles and three RBI and crossed the plate three times in game two. Conley was 3-for-5, with a solo home run and three runs scored in game three. Pepperdine's winning pitchers against Cal State Fullerton were
Brandon Llewellyn in game one,
Trevor Hinkel in game two and
Nathan Diamond in game three. It was the first time that the Waves have swept a regular-season series from the Titans since 1999, although that was only two games. Additionally, on Tuesday the Waves dropped a close road contest to Long Beach State 2-1.
John Peck went 2-for-4 including a solo home run in the top of the eighth inning
to get the Waves' lone run. Conley was also 2-for-4.
Mike Malinchak had the only double of the game.
Tyler Murrah threw 2.0 innings and struck out two batters.
HONORS: Greg Mehlhaff notched the season's first West Coast Conference weekly honors for the Pepperdine baseball team when he was named Player of the Week on Feb. 21. He had a career weekend in the opening-season series sweep against Villanova starting at third base and hitting .538 (7-for-13) with four RBI and six runs scored. Mehlhaff hit a two-run homer and a double on opening day.
WCC LEADERS: The Waves have multiple players in the top-20 in WCC stats.
John Peck is tied for third in home runs (3), tied for sixth in RBI (12) and 14th in batting average (.356).
Connor Bradshaw is tied for 11th in stolen bases (3), tied for 15th in RBI (9) and 20th in batting average (.341).
Devon Walczykowski is 11th on the WCC list in RBI with 10.
Ryan Johnson is tied for seventh in home runs (2) and tied for 15th in RBI (9). On the pitching side,
Brandon Llewellyn is fourth in ERA (2.04).
Grant Georges is tied for second in saves with three.
Trevor Hinkel is tied for 13th in strikeouts with 16 and 17th in ERA with 3.52.
WCC PRESEASON: Pepperdine is predicted to finish fifth in the West Coast Conference this year. The whole list is as follows: 1. Gonzaga; 2. BYU; 3. San Diego; 4. San Francisco;
5. Pepperdine; 6. Portland; 7. LMU; 8. Saint Mary's; 9. Santa Clara; 10. Pacific.
Sophomore infielder
John Peck was named to the preseason All-WCC team.
THE SQUAD: The Waves return 30 players from last year's squad including eight key returners. Pepperdine welcomes nine true freshmen and three redshirt freshmen to the squad.
On the pitching side, sophomore
Brandon Llewellyn led the team last year with five wins, a 3.38 ERA and 43 strikeouts. Additionally, Pepperdine returns junior
Trevor Hinkle who made 14 appearances and started 12 games, senior
Trevor Kniskern who made 11 appearances and had two saves and junior
Nathan Diamond who had a 4.76 ERA and two saves.
The Waves bring back some top producers in sophomores
Connor Bradshaw and
John Peck, as well as junior
Ryan Johnson. Bradshaw hit .291, posted 11 doubles, one home run, 12 RBIs, 23 runs scored and had a team-best eight stolen bases. Peck started all 45 games last season as a freshman and batted .256 with eight doubles, seven home runs, 19 RBI and 32 runs scored. Johnson led the team last season and was ranked second in the West Coast Conference in RBI with 45. He hit .237 with seven doubles, eight home runs and 29 runs scored.
LAST YEAR: The Waves had an overall record of 20-25, including a 12-15 WCC record.
Reese Alexiades and
Billy Cook were both named to the All-West Coast Conference first team. Additionally, Cook and
Wyatt Young were selected in the 2021 MLB Draft. Cook was selected in the 10th round by Baltimore Orioles, the highest-drafted player since 2017. Young was selected in the 15th round by the New York Mets and was also the 2022 John Scolinos Award recipient.
COACHING STAFF: 2022 marks the seventh 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
Cameron Rowland in the summer of 2021 to fill the team's role as pitching coach. Rowland has coaching experience at the collegiate and high school levels, most notably spending the past four years with San Francisco State. 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 and also played in the 1979 CWS. The Waves made their 30th and most recent 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 10 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.
