The Pepperdine baseball team is setting new season highs as they continue their successful season. Recent games have been a result of strong wins. The Waves (16-5) were able to get a 12-2 midweek victory over Long Beach State and have won eight of their past nine games.
The Waves were led by a strong performance from sophomore pitcher Matt Maurer, who in six innings was able to prevent the Long Beach State offense from scoring. Maurer limited the Dirtbags to a mere four hits. The pitching continued with help from the bullpen. Relievers Mat Snider, Steve Casey and Alex Najera were able to limit the offense of the Dirtbags who brought a late push in the ninth inning which resulted in only two runs.
Pepperdine’s offense was clicking on all cylinders in their largest offensive scoring output this season. The Waves were able to pile up 12 runs on 14 hits. This had five batters who played a multi-hitter game and four hitters batting at least two runs each.
The first run of the game was not put on the board until the bottom of the third inning by the Waves, but once they got things started they were hard to cool off. The Waves went on to produce six runs in the third inning and did not ever trail the rest of the game. As junior pitcher Jon Moscott admits, “getting wins like that really helps us build some momentum and gives everyone an opportunity to play.”
The Waves have been able to build strong momentum since their disappointing outing against No.14 ranked Louisville on March 3 and March 4, in which they dropped two of three games in the series. The Waves, since then have swept teams like Rhode Island and have also won their midweek matches against Columbia and UC Irvine in the Dodgertown Classic. The Waves during this stretch have seen three complete game performances from the pitchers (Moscott-2 & Frazier-1) and some impressive performances from other players. Guys like redshirt senior Floyd Givens who has been recovering from injury during his 2010 season has received consistent playtime this season as the Waves designated hitter. As of late, Givens has caught fire and has earned five hits on eight at-bats in games he started since the Louisville series.
Givens attributes “getting more of a chance” on the field as being the spark for his recent success.
The team has remained dedicated even on potential days off. The rain that postponed the Waves on Saturday matchup against Kent State, allowed players like freshman outfielder Aaron Brown “to get better and get locked in mentally.”
Brown has displayed this focus, leading the team the last four games with eight hits and five RBI.
The Waves’ will to win will be tested again at their weekend three-game series against the No.13 Texas A&M Aggies. This will be the Waves first game against a ranked opponent since their series against the Louisville Cardinals. After this series, the Waves will go on a nine game road trip starting in Santa Barbara Tuesday, March 27 they will then start conference play on Mar. 30 against the Gonzaga Bulldogs.