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Malibu, CA—The Pepperdine Baseball team started white hot in the 2012 season—and a myriad of reasons can be attributed to their 16-6 record, including: A four-man starting rotation with ERAs under 3.00, 18 of their first 22 games at Eddy D. Field Stadium, the emergence of Zach Vincej as a premier lead-off hitter, and even the modest 103-98 combined record of the preseason opponents for the Waves. Nonetheless, Coach Steve Rodriguez has much reason for optimism going forward in preparation for the West Coast Conference opener against Gonzaga next Friday.
Despite the 16-6 mark, the Waves were delivered a reality check in the form of Aggies starting pitcher Michael Wacha and his near perfect performance in the 4-0 Texas A&M victory at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
Wacha (4-0) took a perfect game into the eighth inning before a strike three pitch went past Catcher Troy Stein, and Tony Cooper reached second base on Stein’s throwing error to first. Aaron Brown ended the no-hit bid with a sharp single off the foot of Wacha on the next at-bat. Despite the late wake-up call, the Waves were unable to manufacture any runs as Wacha finished the game striking out Matt Gelalich and enticing Joe Sever to ground out on the first pitch with two out in the ninth to close the door for Texas A&M (17-5).
Michael Wacha, projected to be one of the top picks in the upcoming 2012 MLB Draft, faced only three over the minimum, walked none, and struck out eight Waves batters in his complete-game shutout.
While Wacha may have been the reason for more than 30 pro scouts in attendance, Pepperdine’s Jon Moscot (3-3) impressed through five innings himself not allowing a hit before the Aggies plated three runs in the top of the sixth. Moscot has now gone two consecutive quality starts without receiving one run of support from his offense.
The Waves lone threat in the game that lasted just over two hours came in the bottom of the eighth when Matt Forgatch flied out to center field with the bases loaded.
The Waves and Aggies are slated for a double header Saturday, with the first pitch at 11a.m., and the second game coming 30 minutes after the conclusion of game one.
Fans are able to catch live streaming of the games at www.pepperdinesports.com.
