NOAH GODWIN
Assistant Sports Editor
DEALIN’: Pepperdine junior pitcher James Johnson throws against UCSB on Saturday. The Waves ended up losing the game 12-9 after play was suspended due to darkness.
(Photo courtasy of Keith Novosel / Staff Photographer)
The opening weekend of the season for Pepperdine baseball did not go exactly as planned, but the Waves were not beaten at home and stole another win on the road.
The only problem was that the game the Waves didn’t lose at home was postponed because of darkness, and University of California, Santa Barbara won in extra innings when the series continued back at Caesar Uyesaka Stadium.
Behind strong pitching from senior Kea Kometani and junior left-hander Paul Coleman, the Waves won the first game at Santa Barbara 8-4 on Friday.
“Kea is a big reason why we expect to do well this season, and his first start was an indication of the kind of season we think we can have with him performing well,” Head Coach Steve Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez is in his second year as head coach and is only the third head coach in program history to have played for the Waves. He was an All-American member of the 1992 national championship team and coached Pepperdine to a WCC championship last season.
Pepperdine has a firmly established tradition of being one of the premier teams in the West Coast Conference. The Waves have finished no worse than second place in the past 20 seasons.
Sophomore catcher Chad Tracy, senior designated hitter Ryan Beglin and senior third baseman Patrick Rooney, all hit homeruns to provide more than enough offense for the Kometani-Coleman duo.
When the series moved to Malibu on Saturday for the Waves’ home opener, the Gauchos jumped all over freshman pitcher Barry Enright in his collegiate debut.
Enright gave up five runs in the top of the first inning, but the Pepperdine offense responded in the bottom half of the inning with four runs, three of which came on a homerun by senior first baseman Steve Kleen.
“It was a tough first game, but I know that if I keep working hard it will come together for me,” Enright said.
A game that looked like it would turn into a slugfest became a pitcher’s duel in some of the later innings.
The Gauchos built a 9-5 lead before the Waves produced a furious comeback in the bottom of the ninth.
Santa Barbara had three opportunities to end the game on pop-ups, but all three balls managed to bounce out of their gloves and keep the Pepperdine rally rolling.
With Tracy on third base, Santa Barbara pitcher Nate Holguin threw a wild pitch. Tracy slid under the tag at home plate to tie the game.
But the momentum did not carry over Sunday at Santa Barbara when the game resumed.
The Gauchos scored three runs in the top of the 11th inning, and the Waves left the bases loaded in the bottom of the inning to lose the game 12-9.
Pepperdine struggled on the mound in the third and final game of the series on Sunday.
“We were really flying high after the comeback, and losing that game really took some of the wind out of our sails,” Rodriguez said.
Sophomore Robert Della Grotta was touched up for seven runs on five hits in his first start of the season, and the Waves’ offense never got on track.
Freshman outfielder Adrian Ortiz led the Pepperdine attack with two hits. The Gauchos had 18 hits and drew five base on balls.
In spite of the 1-2 start on the season, the players say they remain confident that this season will be successful.
“Santa Barbara is a good team, so starting 1-2 the way we did is no reason to get down on ourselves, even though nobody on this team ever really accepts losing,” Enright said.
Pepperdine’s season continues against Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo at Eddy D. Field Staidum on Friday at 2 p.m.
02-10-2005
