MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine baseball team will continue West Coast Conference play with a three-game road series visiting San Diego beginning on Friday, March 31.
 
SCHEDULE:
Friday, March 31 - Pepperdine (6-16, 1-5) at San Diego (9-13-1, 3-3) at 6 PM
Saturday, April 1 - Pepperdine at San Diego at 5 PM
Sunday, April 2 - Pepperdine at San Diego at 1 PM
 
COVERAGE: All three games will be broadcasted live on the WCC Network. Links to broadcasts as well as live stats are available at pepperdinewaves.com.
 
SERIES VS. SAN DIEGO: Pepperdine holds the overall series lead against San Diego 135-84. Last season, the Waves dropped the three-game series 2-1 in Malibu.
 
LAST GAME: In the second WCC weekend series, the Waves fell 2-1 to Gonzaga at Eddy D. Field Stadium. In game one, the Waves collected its largest shutout margin over the Bulldogs all-time, 15-0. Pepperdine held Gonzaga to only two hits. Quintt Landis went 3-for-4 on the day and brought in two runs. Landis' three hits tied his career-high and he collected a new career-high in runs scored, touching home plate three times. John Peck was 3-for-5 including two RBI and crossed the plate twice. Devon Walczykowski had two hits and brought in a career-high four RBI. Jack Basseer tied his career-high in hits with three including a double and a home run. Basseer also had two RBI. Shane Telfer threw 6.0 scoreless innings only allowing two hits. Telfer struck out eight Bulldogs and collected his third win of the season. Gunnar Nichols earned his first career save throwing 3.0 innings in relief and did not allow a hit. Nichols collected one strikeout, which was the final out of the game.
 
On Saturday in game two, Pepperdine and Gonzaga went back and forth, but the Waves ultimately fell 12-9. The Waves held the Bulldogs scoreless for the first three innings, but Gonzaga started to make its way back and tied the game in the top of the sixth and took the lead in the top of the seventh. Ryan Johnson was 2-for-3 on the day including a solo home run. Johnson also had three RBI and scored two runs. Charles Masino was 2-for-4 and scored two runs. Lincoln Orellana also had two hits and two RBI.

In the series finale, Pepperdine fell 10-7 to Gonzaga in the rubber match. The Waves fell behind early, but took the lead in third inning, 6-5, although Gonzaga regained the lead in the fourth and never gave it up. Cam Conley had a base clearing double, scoring three runs, which were a career-high in RBI. Jack Basseer had a career-high in hits, going 4-for-4 on the day and a stolen base. Grant Schoen had three walks on the day and scored once.
 
On Tuesday, the Waves battled it out with CSU Bakersfield, but fell 19-11 at Hardt Field. Pepperdine and CSU Bakersfield exchanged the lead four times, but a nine-run bottom of the sixth put the Roadrunners on top and Pepperdine was unable to catch up. Lincoln Orellana tied his career-high in hits going 3-for-4 including a home run and a double. Orellana also tied his career-high in RBI with three. Quintt Landis was 1-for-3 on the night, had two RBI and crossed the plate twice. Greg Mehlhaff had a double and two RBI. Chase Landis made his collegiate debut. Zach Chonkich struck out his first batter as a Wave.
 
HONORS: Ryan Johnson notched the season's first West Coast Conference weekly honors for the Pepperdine baseball team when he was named Player of the Week on March 6. He batted a .571 and had an 11 RBI week, while posting back-to-back games with two home runs and five RBI to tie a career-high in RBI. In four appearances last week, Johnson only had two strikeouts and scored seven runs. He ended the week with five homers and a double.
 
Shane Telfer earned the second West Coast Conference weekly honors for Pepperdine as he was named the Pitcher of the Week on March 27. He threw 6.0 scoreless innings against Gonzaga in the series-opening 15-0 victory en route to his third win of the season. Telfer held the Bulldogs to only two hits and five walks, while earning eight strikeouts, two shy from his career-high.
 
WCC/NATIONAL LEADERS: The Waves rank top-six in multiple categories on the WCC leaderboards. Pepperdine is fourth in home runs (22), fifth in runs scored (133) and tied for sixth in both hits (182) and RBI (120).
 
Pepperdine also has multiple Waves in the top-25 in WCC stats. Ryan Johnson is tied for first in home runs (nine), second in the conference in slugging percentage (.789), second in on-base percentage (.490), fifth in RBI (23), and 12th in batting average (.355). Greg Mehlhaff and John Peck are both tied for 19th in home runs with three each. Melhlhaff is also tied for 16th in RBI (16). Jack Basseer is tied for 18th in batting average (.329) and tied for 21st in RBI (15). On the pitching side, Shane Telfer is tied for first in the WCC in wins (three), second in ERA (2.38) and sixth in strikeouts (34).
 
Johnson ranks 34th nationally in slugging percentage (.789) and tied for 34th in home runs (nine).

OFFENSIVE STREAKS: Grant Schoen leads the Waves in a reached base streak with 10 straight games. Charles Masino is currently on a nine-game hitting and reached base streak. Quintt Landis is on a six-game hitting streak and has reached base in eight consecutive games. Lincoln Orellana has also reached base in eight straight games.