SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Pepperdine baseball team travels north to take on the Santa Clara Broncos to continue West Coast Conference play in a three-game series April 12-14. The Waves look to improve their 6-3 WCC record and take the fourth series in a row.

SCHEDULE:
GAME #1 — Pepperdine (12-21, 6-3) vs. Santa Clara (15-15, 3-6) | Friday, April 12 | 6 p.m. | Stephen Schott Stadium | Santa Clara, Calif.
GAME #2 — Pepperdine vs. Santa Clara | Saturday, April 13 | 1 p.m. | Stephen Schott Stadium | Santa Clara, Calif.
GAME #3 — Pepperdine vs. Santa Clara | Sunday, April 14 | 12 p.m. | Stephen Schott Stadium | Santa Clara, Calif.

COVERAGE: All three games will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required). Links to broadcasts as well as live stats will be available at pepperdinewaves.com.

OPPONENTS:  Pepperdine is 29-17 overall against Santa Clara with the last win coming in April of 2022 at Stephen Schott Stadium. Overall on the road, the Waves are 12-6 againt the Broncos. Looking to swing things in the opposite direction, Pepperdine is currently 4-6 in the last 10 matchups.

LAST GAMES: Pepperdine hosted the San Francisco Dons (17-16, 1-5) last weekend, taking 2-of-3 and improving to 6-3, their best WCC start since 2014. The midweek game at Jackie Robinson Stadium against UCLA (12-18, 5-10) ended in a dominating 10-2 victory for the Waves.
Recording a combined 11 strikeouts, Pepperdine kept things close to the chest on defense while taking advantage of ten walks by UCLA's bullpen, going up 4-1 in the fourth. Pepperdine never looked back and won the game with a final score of 10-2.
 
Graduate outfielder Nick Upstill (Huntington Beach, Calif.) went 2-for-5 today with an RBI.
 
Senior outfielder Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle, N.Y.) hit a solo home run in the top of the first inning, going 1-for-3 on the night with two RBIs and two stolen bases.
 
Freshman Braden Guentz (Clovis, Calif.) through 2.0 IP threw four strikeouts and did not allow a hit.
 
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, Bradshaw and 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 Upstill, Walsh, Nunez, Rubin, Renck and Andrew Savage in the field and a starting pitcher in Matthew Boyer.
 
THE STANDINGS

1. Portland                      6-0                   1.000               20-10               .667
2. San Diego                   7-2                   .778                 21-10               .677

3. Gonzaga                     7-2                   .778                 11-18               .379
4. Pepperdine                6-3                   .667                 12-21               .364
5. Saint Mary's                4-2                   .667                 19-12               .613

6. Santa Clara                 3-6                   .333                 15-15               .500
7. San Francisco             1-5                   .167                 17-16               .516    
8. LMU                            1-8                   .111                 13-21               .382

9. Pacific                         1-8                   .111                 6-26                 .188