By Lindsey Besecker
Assistant Sports Editor
At the beginning of the 2002 season, the Pepperdine baseball team holds the No. 20 spot in the Baseball Weekly/ESPN poll and a 1-3 record and recognition as a relatively young team, including 13 freshmen.
The team hosts Tulane in a three-game series this weekend. Tulane holds a No. 5 preseason ranking from Baseball America and a No. 7 pick from Baseball Weekly/ESPN.
“Tulane is definitely going to be a really hard challenge,” freshman third baseman Steven Kleen said. “We just need to come out and do our best.”
“The team is fired up (to play Tulane),” freshman pitcher Earl Smith said. “This is a good rivalry for us. We took two of three from them last year at their place so they want to come and smoke us.”
Last weekend, the Waves dropped two of three home games to Nevada, ranked No. 35 in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll.
In the game Friday, Pepperdine defeated Nevada 2-0. Sophomore pitcher Brandon Boesch struck out eight batters, a career-high, and allowed three hits in his first collegiate start.
“We came out fired up in the first game,” Smith said. “We all worked behind each other and we got a good team win.”
Senior outfielder Ed Montague scored on a wild pitch in the first inning. Montague drew a walk, stole second and moved to third after freshman third baseman Steve Kleen hit a ground ball for a fielder’s choice.
Pepperdine scored again in the fifth inning when Kleen drew a bases-loaded walk to force in junior first baseman Ty Harper.
In the second game of the series, Nevada trounced the Waves 7-1. Nevada’s Justin Sherman limited the Waves to one hit in a little over four innings of relief pitching.
Nevada scored four times in the fifth inning to take a 6-1 lead. Nevada’s JaRell McIntyre smacked a double off freshman relief pitcher Peter Phillips, who was making his collegiate debut, with the bases loaded to earn two RBIs.
Kleen had three of the five Pepperdine hits and knocked in the only run. Sophomore left fielder Chris Kelly and Harper contributed the other two hits.
In the final game of the series, Nevada defeated Pepperdine 6-2. Nevada’s Josh Laidlaw and Jeff Tollotti each had a pair of home runs, including back-to-back homers in the seventh inning.
For the Waves, Kelly clubbed a two-run homer to account for the only runs for Pepperdine. Harper had two hits, including a double.
Nevada took the lead early in the game, but Pepperdine came back in the bottom of the third inning to tie the game 2-2. In the fourth, Nevada took the lead for good off the first of Laidlaw’s home runs.
“(On) Saturday and Sunday we struggled with maintaining focus and energy through the game,” Smith said. “Nevada stole the momentum from us.”
The Waves traveled to UC Irvine on Tuesday, where they lost 3-1. Kleen made the start for Pepperdine, his collegiate debut, and did not allow a hit for 4.1 innings. Anteater first baseman Matt Anderson had three RBIs and two doubles in the Irvine win.
Kleen pitched five innings, allowing three hits and two earned runs, while striking out two.
Junior second baseman Duke Sardinha led the Waves offense with two hits.
“We are definitely going to improve (this season),” Kleen said. “We have a young team, but every practice we go out and show improvement.”
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Photo by Jennifer Flannery
HERE IT COMES: Junior Greg Ramirez delivers a pitch in Pepperdine’s 7-1 loss to Nevada on Saturday. The Waves hold a 1-3 record on the season.
February 07, 2002