By Jared Hermann
Staff Writer
Yesterday Long Beach State, ranked No. 5 nationally, riding a five-game win streak, visited Eddy D. Field Stadium for a midweek game against the Waves.
With a clear sky and a bright sun at his back, senior right-hander James Carroll took the mound for Pepperdine against the always dangerous 49er line-up, and calmly pitched one of his best games of the short season. Despite getting down early, the Waves used late game power to lift themselves to just their second win in seven games.
“The win today was huge for us,” senior first baseman Ty Harper said.
Going into the sixth inning the score was 2-0 in favor of LBSU, as starting 49er pitcher Cesar Ramos held Pepperdine to just two hits through the first five innings.
Sophomore Patrick Rooney walked to lead off the inning, advanced to second on a sacrifice and moved to third on a single by junior Cory Brightwell. Freshman David Uribes followed with an RBI single to right field to score Rooney.
The Waves tied the game when Kevin Estrada hit a ground ball to third base. The 49ers forced Uribes at second on the play but were unable to catch Estrada at first base as the throw got away, allowing Brightwell to score the tying run from second base.
As the game got more and more interesting, the stadium became full with anticipation on each pitch.
That anticipation would soon turn to jubilation, as junior Chris Kelly stepped to the plate. With a runner on base, Kelly dug his cleats into the ground for a battle with the Long Beach pitcher.
Waiting for the right pitch, Kelly broke the tie with a two-run homer, his sixth of the season. Not only did the homerun break open the game, but it also helped move Kelly into sole possession of third place on the Pepperdine all-time homerun list.
The Waves scored two more before the game ended, defeating Long Beach State 6-2. Carroll picked up the win for the Waves as he threw seven innings of spectacular pitching, giving up only two runs while striking out four batters on the day.
“It was a good win for the team,” Carroll said. “I felt real good out there. Both my slider and fastball were working well for me, and that made it easier to get guys out.”
On Tuesday afternoon Pepperdine hosted the 16-7 UNLV Rebels, which were 3-0 in the Mountain West Conference and were coming off a three-game sweep of the visiting Air Force team. In both the first and second innings, the teams each scored two runs. From then on, however, it was a different story. In the fourth and fifth innings, UNLV had an entourage of runs, taking the lead 10-4.
The Waves battled back the entire day but were unable to defeat the Rebels, even with two hits each from Uribes, Kelly, Estrada and freshman Brandon Daguio and a homerun from Brightwell.
Losing 13-8, Pepperdine dropped to 11-10 on the season, while Estrada extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
“Homeruns are nice,” Brightwell said. “But we need more consecutive hits than homeruns here and there.”
This past weekend the Waves, in the midst of their 13 game homestand, took on Coastal Carolina for a three-game series. After losing the first game 11-6 on Friday, the rain came pouring down early Saturday, forcing the 1 p.m. game to be pushed over to Sunday, resulting in a doubleheader that began at 11 a.m.
In the first game of the doubleheader senior right hander Greg Ramirez and the talented Pepperdine bullpen tried to contain Coastal Carolina. But unfortunately the Chanticleer hitters came to play as they ignited for 12 hits and seven runs, defeating the Waves 7-2. Despite dropping their season high fourth straight in the first game of the doubleheader 7-2, Pepperdine fought back hard in the second.
With junior right hander Jacob Barrack providing seven innings of solid pitching, the Waves were able to manage two runs for the 2-0 victory. Barrack struck out seven batters while allowing only five hits in his seven innings of play and was supported by sophomore relievers Steve Kleen and Kea Kometani who relinquished no hits to the powerful Coastal Carolina team.
Pepperdine put their first run on the board when Estrada was hit by a pitch in the second inning with the bases loaded. The Waves were able to build on that when sophomore catcher Nelson Caraballo led off the fourth inning with a homerun over the left field wall making the score 2-0.
March 20, 2003
