MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine baseball team opens the 2024 season on its home turf, hosting California Baptist for one game and Utah for a pair of games at Eddy D. Field Stadium before the team hits the road to take on California Baptist on Sunday.
SCHEDULE:
GAME #1 — Pepperdine (0-0) vs. California Baptist | Friday, Feb. 16 | 10 a.m. | Eddy D. Field Stadium | Malibu, Calif.
GAME #2 — Pepperdine vs. Utah | Friday, Feb. 16 | 1:30 p.m. | Eddy D. Field Stadium | Malibu, Calif.
GAME #3 — Pepperdine vs. Utah | Saturday, Feb. 17 | 2 p.m. | Eddy D. Field Stadium | Malibu, Calif.
GAME #4 — Pepperdine at California Baptist | Sunday, Feb. 18 | 4 p.m. | James W. Totman Stadium | Riverside, Calif.
COVERAGE: All four games will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required). Links to broadcasts as well as live stats will be available at pepperdinewaves.com.
TICKETS: Tickets to all Pepperdine home men's volleyball matches in 2024 will be available via e-ticket only at tickets.pepperdinewaves.com. Pepperdine faculty, staff and students must show Pepperdine ID card for entry — no ticket purchase is required.
ENTRANCE/PARKING: Due to construction on campus, stadium parking and entrance guidance has changed. Please review the most updated information at pepperdinewaves.com/sports/2018/6/15/spectator-guidelines.aspx
OPPONENTS: The Waves are 7-4 all-time against the Lancers with their last win coming in 2021. Pepperdine is 2-0 all-time against Utah with the program's last win coming in 1990.
LAST YEAR: The Waves had an overall record of 19-30, including an 8-19 WCC record. Jack Basseer, Ryan Johnson, John Peck and Shane Telfer all received All-WCC postseason accolades. Basseer, Peck and Johnson were named to the second team, Telfer received honorable mention and Basseer also earned recognition on the WCC All-Freshman Team.
WCC PRESEASON: Pepperdine is predicted to finish seventh in the West Coast Conference this year. The whole list is as follows: 1. Santa Clara; 2. San Diego; 3. Portland; T4. Saint Mary's; T4. LMU; 6. Gonzaga; 7. Pepperdine; 8. San Francisco; 9. Pacific.
THE SQUAD: The Waves return 21 players from last year's squad including three returning starters in the field and two of the three weekend starting pitchers. Pepperdine welcomes 18 newcomers, including nine transfers.
On the pitching side, redshirt sophomore Tommy Scavone has a career ERA of 3.86 in his two appearances for the Waves. Scavone holds a 1-1 overall record. Sophomore Nick Bonn recorded 19 strikeouts in 33 innings pitched and has a 5-1 career record with two starts under his belt.
The Waves bring back three position players who are set to start on opening day as junior Cole Sheehan, senior Connor Bradshaw and redshirt junior Luke Pemberton return for the 2024 campaign. Sheehan has appeared in 44 games with 34 starts over his first two seasons. He holds a career batting average of .250 and a total of 31 hits. Sheehan has four extra base hits in his career and was named to the WCC All-Freshman Team in 2021. Bradshaw started 123 games in his first three years with the team and has made 129 career appearances. He has collected 126 hits with a .266 batting average and a total of 56 RBIs and 15 stolen bases. During the 2023 season, Pemberton had a .271 batting average with 13 hits. He started 10 games and made 26 total appearances. Pemberton had an on base percentage of .386 and also drove in 10 runs last year. The Waves also welcome in starting transfers in Nick Upstill, Connor Walsh, Julian Nunez, Justin Rubin, Brady Renck and Andrew Savage in the field and a starting pitcher in Matthew Boyer.
WAVES IN THE DRAFT: In the 2019 MLB Draft, Easton Lucas was drafted by the Miami Marlins in the 14th round with the 411th overall pick. He made his big league debut with the Oakland Athletics on 9/8/23 as a relieving pitcher against the Texas Rangers. In 2023, middle infielders Ryan Johnson and John Peck were both selected in the MLB Draft. Peck was the Waves' highest drafted player since 2016, having been selected in the seventh round by the Detroit Tigers. Johnson was drafted in the eighth round by the Houston Astros. This is the first time since 2010 that Pepperdine had two picks in the first eight rounds. Left handed pitcher Shane Telfer also signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks on 7/17/23.
COACHING STAFF: 2024 marks the ninth 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 20 schools to have accomplished this feat — and 10 overall. Of this elite group, Pepperdine has the smallest undergraduate enrollment, is the only school without football and is the only university that has not been affiliated with a "major" conference. The Waves have won a total of 26 team or individual national championships in their history. Pepperdine has also earned the Division I-AAA All-Sports Trophy, an award based on postseason success that's given to the top non-football school, five times (most recently in back-to-back years during the 2022-23 and 2021-22). Located in scenic Malibu, California, 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 #76 overall on U.S. News and World Report's list of America's best colleges.
