More than eight months ago the Pepperdine baseball team suffered back-to-back losses at the hands of Stanford in the NCAA Regionals closing the books on a prosperous 2008 campaign. Less than a week later the Waves lost star hitters Chase d’Arnaud and Eric Thames as well as dependable pitcher Brett Hunter to the MLB draft.
However with Opening Day on Friday optimism remains high. The Waves who feature a healthy balance of offensive talent and strength in pitching are eager to finally jump into the 2009 season and play the winning brand of baseball that has become a staple of the program since its inception 70 years ago.
“We’ve been practicing for so long said junior catcher Trent Diedrich. It’s time to put everything together and have fun.”
In 2008 the Waves finished at 38-21 in the regular season to place second in the West Coast Conference earning themselves a spot in the postseason for the 25th time in school history.
At the Stanford Regional which took place May 30 through June 2 in Palo Alto Calif. the Waves made quick work of their first two opponents defeating Arkansas and UC Davis 4-3 and 7-4 respectively. This put Pepperdine in the Regional Championship Series against host Stanford but this was where their road to Omaha hit a dead end. The Cardinal proved to be too much for the Waves taking both games from Pepperdine to advance to the Super Regionals.
But heading into this season Head Coach Steve Rodriguez said he has high expectations for his team believing it has the potential to make it deep into the playoffs.
“I really do think this is a very talented team Rodriguez said. And I think the postseason for us is a very reachable goal and advancing in the postseason is very reachable as well this year.”
Recently several national media outlets have given Pepperdine high accolades. The USA Today/ESPN preseason poll has the Waves ranked 21st while both Rivals.com and RootZoo list Pepperdine as the 8th best team in the country.
Despite losing the services of Hunter who was 12-8 with a 3.46 ERA in his three seasons at Pepperdine the Waves’ pitching staff is shaping up well.
“We’ve got a lot of pitchers coming back this year Diedrich said. I think our pitching is going to be really strong and win some games for us.”
Senior Nathan Newman was the team’s most consistent starter in 2008 as he wrapped up the season with an 8-4 record and a 3.46 ERA in 93 2/3 innings pitched.
One remarkable feature of the team’s projected rotation is its amount of lefthanders. Sophomore and lefty Scott Alexander went 7-4 and held opposing hitters to just a .239 batting average in 2008 as a freshman. Senior Robert Dickmann another southpaw struggled with consistency in 2008 posting a 3-5 record with a 5.54 ERA. But he proved to be a workhorse on the mound and his 14 starts tied for most on the team with lefty sophomore Matt Bywater in 2008.
In the 9th inning the Waves will readily hand the ball to senior Nick Gaudi who emerged as one of the country’s most dominating closers in 2008. His 15 saves ranked 3rd on Pepperdine’s all-time list and his 2.68 ERA was fourth best in the conference.
“We couldn’t ask for it [the pitching staff] to be in a better place right now Rodriguez said. I’m really looking forward to see how everyone performs this year.”
Offensively Pepperdine will have to fare without Thames and d’Arnaud who in 2008 slugged a combined 34 home runs and accounted for the majority of the team’s power production.
Thames an outfielder led the Waves in just about every single offensive category posting a .417 batting average and an 1.282 OPS en route to garnering WCC Player of the Year. Infielder d’Arnaud provided 11 home runs and 50 RBI while usually occupying the No. 3 or 4 spot in the lineup.
Although the absence of Thames and d’Arnaud may be tremendous Rodriguez praised the hitters who are still around affirming they will make up for the loss in power with speed and a natural ability to handle the bat.
“We may have lost two really good athletes this last year Rodriguez said. But I think our lineup might be stronger this year from top to bottom in regards to consistency and the ability to contribute to the overall game in the lineup.”
Junior infielder Bryce Mendonca who last year batted .332 with a .412 on-base percentage and swiped a team-best 32 bags is the textbook leadoff hitter. Redshirt junior infielder Ryan Heroy will be a solid option in the middle of the lineup after putting together a .309 batting average and driving in 39 runs in 2008. Diedrich is ready to resume his duties behind the plate following a 2008 season in which he hit .291 and started at catcher in 48 of 59 games.
Seniors infielder Denny Duron and outfielder Nate Simon may supply some of the pop that left with Thames and d’Arnaud. In 2008 Duron was third on the team in home runs (6) and fourth in RBI (38) and slugging percentage (.460) while Simon knocked out 5 big flies and drove in 31 runs.
“Our pitching staff is getting a lot of the attention … but I think our offense is going to surprise some people as well Diedrich said. We lost two big guys but I think we’re going be just fine offensively.”The 2009 season begins for the Waves on Friday at 2 p.m. when they will take on Cal State Northridge at Eddy D. Field Stadium. This is it – the culmination of eight months of preparation and anticipation. It’s time to play ball.
“I think the biggest thing for us is to make sure that we execute the game we practiced pretty much for five months and to maintain some kind of consistency with our offense and our pitching Rodriguez said. If we do that we’re going to be pretty good.”