By Steve Pinkerton
Staff Writer
The Waves baseball program faces USC this weekend, coming off a 10-6 loss to UCLA Tuesday afternoon. To beat the Trojans, who hold a 9-9 record, the Waves will need to summon their competitive ability from wherever it’s been hiding the last couple of weeks.
Since they played Hawaii-Hilo four weeks ago, the Waves have won only six games and lost eight, leaving its overall season record at 11-14.
“We’re in a bit of a funk,” junior pitcher Greg Ramirez said. “We’ve got a lot of talent, but we still need to learn what it takes to win.”
Despite their less-than-spectacular performance so far this season, the Waves are optimistic.
“I’m excited about playing USC,” said sophomore Brandon Boesch, who is slated to pitch against the Trojans on Saturday. “They’re a perennial power in college baseball, and we’ll be up to the challenge.”
Pepperdine was certainly not up to the challenge of playing UCLA on Tuesday.
Senior Bruins left fielder Adam Berry dominated the game, hitting two home runs in as many at-bats.
Berry’s first assault came in the bottom of the first inning, when he smacked a long three-run home run off of Pepperdine freshman Steve Kleen that landed far beyond the left field wall and gave UCLA a 3-1 lead.
Berry later hit another homer off Kleen, this one a solo shot.
Berry’s hitting campaign ended in the fifth when he hurt his shoulder diving for a fly ball and had to leave the game.
That same inning, Pepperdine sophomore Chris Kelly offered his team a glimmer of hope, hitting a three-run homer that brought the Waves within one run, 6-5.
That was as close as Pepperdine got. The Bruins pulled away and ultimately won the game, 10-6.
Despite such defeats, the Waves can still accomplish great things, as they clearly demonstrated last Sunday against Gonzaga. Having lost the first two games of their three-game series at Eddy D. Field Stadium, the Waves were determined to rack up a win.
Pepperdine put that determination on display as it battled for 11 innings to keep Gonzaga from sweeping the weekend series.
Both teams fought fiercely. In the sixth inning, with the score tied 3-3, senior catcher Rock Mills hit a single that scored two. That lead did not last long, though. Gonzaga first baseman Nate Gold countered in the following inning with a two-run homer that evened up the match once again.
The ballgame remained tied through the 11th inning, when Gonzaga reliever Brent Dayton found himself in a predicament: bases loaded and only one out, with Kleen coming to the plate.
Kleen hit a hard drive down the third base line. Gonzaga’s John Gebbers fielded the ball and hurled it to catcher Brian Munhall at the plate. With Pepperdine junior Duke Sardhina charging home, it became clear that this play could potentially make or break the game for the Waves.
The throw was off, and Sardhina charged through home plate, winning the game for the Waves.
That play capped an excellent performance from Sardhina, who scored three times off of four hits. Sophomore reliever Jacob Barrack earned the win, bringing his personal record to 3-1.
It was a clutch victory — had the Waves lost on Sunday, it would have been the first time since 1973 that they lost an entire three-game series with a WCC opponent.
If they can manage to repeat the kind of tenacious performance they gave last Sunday against Gonzaga, the Waves may yet be able to turn the tide in this rough season.
“I think we can turn things around for the better and have a great second half of the year,” Boesch said.
That kind of talk leaves the Waves with a great deal to prove this weekend against the Trojans. They will play two afternoon games at Eddy D. Field Stadium, one each on Saturday and Sunday. Both games are scheduled to start at 1 p.m.
March 14, 2002