JANE LEE
Assistant Sports Editor
From losses that featured a seven-point blowout and a bases-loaded hit batsman to a win that came from a ninth-inning rally, the No.-22 Pepperdine baseball team took a ride on a never-ending rollercoaster last weekend, experiencing continuous ups and downs en route to dropping two of three to Loyola Marymount at the Lions’ George Page Stadium.
“I think the fact that we were playing LMU at LMU meant it was supposed to be the biggest series of the year,” junior Justin Tellam said. “I think that the pressure got to some of the young players and they started to try to do too much instead of just playing the game.”
In the first game of the series, Pepperdine could only manage five hits off Lions starter Brad Meyers, who, along with late-inning offensive surges from his teammates, helped LMU open West Coast Conference play with an 8-1 victory over the Waves.
The loss snapped Pepperdine’s (20-13, 1-2) season-high seven-game winning streak.
Meyers and Pepperdine senior starter Paul Coleman were locked in a scoreless game until the sixth inning when Lion Erik Johnson sent a pitch from Coleman over the left field wall to give LMU a 1-0 lead and snap a streak of 10 consecutive batters retired by the Waves’ lefty.
The Lions (13-21, 2-1) quickly added to their lead in the seventh, scoring three times to take a 4-0 lead, which was highlighted by a two-run double by DeAndre Miller.
The surge continued in the eighth, as the Lions scored four times against sophomore reliever Brian Ozols to take a dominating 8-0 lead.
Meyers was denied a complete-game shutout when senior first baseman Nick Kliebert singled to drive home junior catcher Chad Tracy with the Waves’ lone run of the game.
While Meyers (5-2) allowed one run on five hits while walking three and striking out four, Coleman (4-2) surrendered four runs (two earned) on seven hits while walking one and striking out five in seven innings.
What followed the next day for the Waves was what Tellam described as an “emotional rollercoaster” that resulted in an 11-10 Lions victory.
Tellam couldn’t have said it better, as the game featured a five-run inning by both teams, 10 runs score in the final two innings, two momentous comebacks by Pepperdine, a pair of balk calls that allowed runs to score, a costly error in the ninth, and a hit batsman with the bases loaded that forced home the winning run.
After the Waves came home five times in the eighth inning to erase an 8-3 deficit and received a two-run home run from Tellam in the ninth that tied the score 10-10, LMU’s Sean Dovel scored the winning run when Chris Pettit was hit by a pitch by sophomore Jason Dominguez with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.
The hit batsman came one pitch after senior second baseman David Uribes bobbled a ground ball that would have ended the inning and sent the game into extra innings.
Earlier in the game, in the midst of responding to an 8-3 deficit with five runs of their own, the Waves’ first five batters reached base before an out was recorded. Highlighting those hits was a two-run double by Tellam that cut the Lions’ lead to 8-5. Sophomore pinch hitter Matt Aidem’s infield out with the bases loaded made it 8-6 before Uribes and designated hitter Tracy hit RBI singles to complete the comeback.
LMU starter Andy Beal held the Waves to three runs over the first seven innings before Pepperdine tagged the Lions’ bullpen for seven runs and seven hits over the final two innings.
Beal’s counterpart, Pepperdine freshman starter Brett Hunter, gave up six runs on eight hits while walking one and striking out one in five innings.
“We got the lead then lost the lead just as quick, then we battled back just to lose the game again,” said Tellam, who led the Waves offensively with four hits and four RBI in the game. “I think that if we would’ve shut out LMU in the bottom of the ninth that we would’ve won the game in the top of the 10th.
“The hardest thing was what we did on Sunday after losing a heartbreaker to come back and win the final game to avoid getting swept.”
That comeback was led by Uribes when he hit a two-out, two-run bases-loaded single in the ninth inning to lift Pepperdine to an 8-7 victory over LMU in the finale of the series.
Trailing 7-6 heading into the ninth inning, Pepperdine rallied against LMU relievers Ezequiel Ruvalcaba and Lee Roberts. Sophomore shortstop Danny Worth opened the inning with a double against Ruvalcaba. Junior left fielder Luke Salas then sacrificed Worth to third and sophomore right fielder Don Brown walked to put runners at the corners.
Roberts relieved Ruvalcaba and immediately walked senior designated hitter Brandon Daguio to load the bases. Kliebert popped out for the second out, bringing Uribes to the plate.
Uribes hit a line drive to right field that dropped to score Worth and Brown with the tying and go-ahead runs. Brown scored the eventual winning run when Johnson’s throw to the plate was dropped by Lions catcher Dovel.
Freshman Bryce Stowell, who came on in the eighth, pitched a perfect ninth inning to register his first career win.
In the beginning stages of the game Pepperdine jumped to a 4-0 lead with a run in the fourth and three in the fifth. LMU, however, quickly battled back against Wave sophomore starter Barry Enright and cut the lead in half in the sixth on a two-run home run and then scored four times in the seventh to go ahead 6-4.
The Waves battled back to tie it in the eighth, scoring twice on RBI singles by sophomore center fielder Adrian Ortiz and catcher Tracy. Pepperdine had a third run erased at the plate when freshman pinch-runner Denny Duron was thrown out trying to score from second base on Ortiz’ single up the middle. Tracy followed with a drive to right center to tie the score.
LMU went ahead 7-6 in the bottom of the eighth when it scored a run with two outs. Then, just as Pepperdine had a runner thrown out at the plate, the Lions had a runner cut down at home to keep the scoring gap at 1, which eventually helped the Waves walk away with the win.
Ortiz led the Waves offensively with three hits, while Uribes, Tracy and Worth collected two hits apiece.
Up next for Pepperdine is a three-game home series against visiting San Francisco at Eddy D. Field Stadium beginning Friday at 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday’s games are scheduled for 1 p.m.
According to Tellam, the Waves just need to get back to basics to get another winning streak going.
“We have to start making the routine plays, and the pitchers need to start off hitters with first-pitch strikes and get ahead in the count,” he said. “If we are able to do that we should be unbeatable.”
04-06-2006
