TAYLOR BIRD
Sports Assistant
The No.-9 Pepperdine baseball team could not bounce back from a six-run seventh inning by Cal Poly and dropped a 10-5 contest to the Mustangs on Tuesday afternoon at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
Junior Robert Dickmann took the hill for Pepperdine (20-11, 3-2 WCC) and was knocked around for three runs in the first inning. With two outs, Cal Poly (10-17) left fielder Ryan Lee slashed a two-run single to left and advanced to second on the throw. First baseman Wes Dorrell then singled home Lee to put the Mustangs on top, 3-0.
The Waves responded in the bottom of the first. Junior third baseman Bryce Mendonca scored from second base after stealing third and reaching home on a throwing error by second baseman J.J. Thompson, to bring Pepperdine within two.
The score would hold steady until the bottom of the fifth, when junior outfielder Eric Thames narrowed the Pepperdine deficit with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. Sophomore catcher Trent Diedrich followed with a double to right-center that scored two and gave the Waves a 4-3 edge.
After his shaky first inning, Dickmann settled in and did not allow another run. He left during the top of the sixth in line to get the win after giving up three earned runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings.
The Waves scored another run in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Mendonca to lead 5-3.
But the bullpen could not hold on, as it surrendered six runs, only two earned, in the top of the seventh. Cal Poly centerfielder Logan Schafer tied the score at five with a two-run double off sophomore reliever Jordan Durrance. Schafer came around to score on a two-out error by junior shortstop Chase d’Arnaud, and Dorrell doubled in two more. Senior reliever Nick Gaudi then relieved Durrance and allowed a one-run single to Lee that put the Mustangs ahead, 9-5.
“We had some pitchers do some good things today,” Diedrich said. “We got a couple good hits when we needed them. But we gave them that six-run inning, and that’s really what killed us.”
Lee added another RBI single in the eighth to push the score to 10-5, and Pepperdine was unable to generate any offense in the final two innings.
“They threw a couple good arms at us,” said senior designated hitter Matt Aidem. “We put up five [runs], we could have done some things that were better. But it was just that one inning that killed us.”
Head Coach Steve Rodriguez said Dickmann’s key to success is finding consistency, as the pitcher has been hit or miss so far this season. In his last start April 1, Dickmann allowed five earned runs in three innings in a game the Waves lost 14-0 to UC Santa Barbara.
“Robert Dickmann has the ability to be better,” Rodriguez said. “He cannot continue to have a good start and a bad start… I believe he has that ability, and he has shown us he has that ability.”
Diedrich went 2-for-5 with 2 RBI, and Thames and Mendonca knocked in an RBI apiece. Junior outfielder David Harris also had a solid day, collecting a pair of hits in four at-bats, and junior second baseman Denny Duron went 1-for-3 with a double.
The loss came after a weekend series at Saint Mary’s, in which the Waves won two of three games against the conference rival Gaels.
On Friday, Pepperdine entered the ninth inning trailing 8-7. But Thames singled to lead off the inning, stole second and scored on senior Aidem’s single to tie the game at 8. Back-to-back RBI singles by junior centerfielder Nate Simon and Duron gave the Waves a 10-8 lead, Gaudi then sent the Gaels down in order in the bottom of the ninth to seal the victory for Pepperdine.
The Waves dropped a pitcher’s duel Saturday in 10 innings, 2-1. Pepperdine starter Nathan Newman tossed nine innings of one-run ball, but Saint Mary’s pitchers were equally effective, limiting Waves’ hitters to just three hits. Left fielder Kyle Jensen won the game for the Gaels in the 10th with an RBI single off freshman reliever Jason Butler.
The next day, Pepperdine exploded for 20 runs on 20 hits, scoring 10 in the second inning alone, to rout Saint Mary’s, 20-9. Thames led the offensive attack with a home run and five RBI, and Aidem registered a 4-for-6 day with three doubles.
The Waves play their conference home opener Friday, when they open up a three-game series against San Francisco (21-11, 5-1 WCC) at 3 p.m.
04-10-2008
