MALIBU, California – The Pepperdine baseball team closes out the West Coast Conference regular season with a weekend series hosting Portland. Prior to game three, the Waves will honor the seniors.
 
SCHEDULE:
Friday, May 20 - Pepperdine vs. Portland at 3 PM
Saturday, May 21 - Pepperdine vs. Portland at 1 PM
Sunday, May 22 - Pepperdine vs. Portland at 1 PM
 
COVERAGE: All three games will be streamed on the WCC Network. Veteran play-by-play man Al Epstein, a 2015 Pepperdine Athletics Hall of Fame inductee, will be behind the mic for game one. Darren Preston will have the call for Saturday and Sunday's game. 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. PORTLAND: Pepperdine has the overall series lead against Portland 75-21. In the past two playable seasons, the Waves and Pilots split the series, with Pepperdine having the edge in 2019 and Portland taking the series in 2021.
 
WCC TOURNAMENT SCENARIOS: The Waves rank seventh in the WCC standings and Portland is currently tied for second with San Diego. Pepperdine's probabilities to make the WCC Tournament are a complete sweep over the Pilots and LMU to fall 0-3 against BYU, which would put the Waves and Lions at 13 wins apiece, but the Waves have the tie break. OR Pepperdine completes the sweep over Portland and San Francisco goes 1-2 against Pacific. OR the Waves have to go 2-1 with the Pilots and San Francisco drops all three against the Tigers. San Francisco would hold the tiebreaker in the last scenario and the Waves would need to pass the Dons to have a shot at the WCC Tournament in Stockton, Calif.
 
LAST WEEK: The Waves traveled 19.1 miles south to visit WCC foe and PCH Cup rival Loyola Marymount. Pepperdine took the series 2-1 at Page Stadium. In game one, the Waves fell in a close bout 4-3, seeing five Waves with two hits, including John Peck who went 2-for-3 on the night with one RBI and a walk. On Saturday, in game two, the Waves took down the Lions 7-2. Peck and Connor Bradshaw each tallied two hits, while Peck had three RBI and Bradshaw had two RBI. Trevor Hinkel threw 6.0 innings while giving up five hits and only allowing one run to collect his fourth win of the season. In the rubber match on Sunday with the Lions, Shane Telfer threw a career-high 7.0 innings and had a career-high 10 strikeouts, while only allowing two hits. Telfer and the Waves kept the Lions scoreless eight out of nine innings played. Ryan Johnson had two hits including his 10th home run of the season. On Tuesday, the Waves played their final non-conference midweek hosting Cal Poly and fell 14-6. Cam Conley went 2-for-4 including his seventh career home run. Cole Sheehan plated his first career home run with three-run blast, and collected a new career-high in RBI with three.
 
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. Shane Telfer collected the Waves second WCC weekly honors when he was named Pitcher of the Week on May 16. He had a career day on the mound against LMU pitching 7.0 scoreless innings, while only allowing two hits and no walks, and struck out a career-high 10 batters to collect his second win of the season.
 
OFFENSIVE STREAKS: The Waves' infielder John Peck is on a 10-game hitting streak and has a 12-game reached base streak. Peck's longest hitting streak this season is 15 and longest reached base streak is 24. Freshman infielder/catcher Cole Sheehan has reached base in the last 11 games, which is his longest. Sophomore outfielder Charles Masino is currently on a six-game hitting streak and an eight-game reached base streak. Masino's longest hitting streak this season is 16 games and longest reached base streak is 18.
 
Senior infielder Greg Mehlhaff, redshirt junior outfielder Michael Winaker and freshman infielder Devon Walczykowski are each on a six-game reached base streak. Walczykowski is also on a six-game hitting streak.
 
HTTIN' 100: The Waves' infielder/catcher Ryan Johnson recently collected his 100th career hit in a Waves uniform. Johnson roped a solo home run against LMU on May 15. Johnson also plated career hit 101 against the Lions in the same game on a single through the left side and then hit 102 in a Pepperdine uniform against Cal Poly on Tuesday on a single to left field. Pepperdine's infielder John Peck also notched his 100th career hit in a Waves uniform against the Mustangs in a midweek matchup on a single down the left-field line.
 
WCC LEADERS: The Waves continue to have multiple players in the top-20 in WCC stats. John Peck leads the WCC in batting average (.382), 12th in RBI (33) and is tied for 10th in home runs (7) and tied for 16th in stolen bases (7). Ryan Johnson is tied for third in home runs (10) and eighth in RBI (36). Charles Masino is 13th in batting average (.314). Cam Conley is tied for 10th in home runs (7).
 
On the pitching side, Brandon Llewellyn is seventh in ERA (3.82). Trevor Hinkel is 11th in ERA (4.13) and tied for ninth in wins (4). Grant Georges is fifth in saves (7).
 
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 Hinkel 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 the 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.
 
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.