After a three-game defeat this weekend at No. 23 Stanford the Pepperdine men’s baseball team was unable to come up with a win against the USC Trojans on Tuesday night despite a close comeback late in the game. The Waves’ record is now 6-13.
Starter Joe Sever said the biggest downfall the Waves had was the lack of a high-scoring offense.
“There are a lot of things we could have done differently but I think the main thing that hurt us was that we did not capitalize and hit well with runners in scoring position Sever said. We never got the big hit and in the end that is what hurt us.”
The game against the Trojans ended in a 3-2 loss. Until the eighth inning the Trojans were up 3-0. Sophomore Brian Humphries lit up the scoreboard in the eighth with a home run.
Aaron Gates started on the mound and was relieved by junior Keven Inman.
“I felt pretty good out on the mound tonight Inman said. I was a little wild but I was able to work through some problems and give our team a chance to come back in the ninth inning.”
The Waves started strong in the first of the three games Friday evening but the Cardinal made a comeback and ended the game 9-8. Sophomore redshirt Cole Cook pitched a solid game through seven innings with four strikeouts and allowing five runs. Relief pitcher Aaron Gates allowed four runs.
Saturday’s game proved Cardinal dominance with a 10-0 shutout. Pitcher Matt Bywater a junior had four strikeouts but allowed five runs on eight hits and three walks.
In the final game of the weekend Sunday the Waves showed some hitting power with 13 hits and four players having multi-hit games. But the Cardinal played stronger and the game ended in an 11-6 loss.
Sever had a multi-hit effort Sunday and despite the weekend defeat says he will be able to focus on what will lead to future wins.
“I try to do all I can to help the team and most importantly try to know my role Sever said. Basically I try to get on base and into scoring position for the guys behind me to drive me in. Baseball is suppose to be fun I just try to have fun and inspire the other guys by doing so.”
Pinch-hitter Emanuel Sifuentes accounted for two runs in the ninth inning with an RBI single. These were the first of his career as a Pepperdine Wave.
“It feels great to come in late in the game and bring in a couple of runs to cut the score down and extend the inning Sifuentes said. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to salvage a win against Stanford.”
Sifuentes said the Cardinals played strong and despite some good plays over the weekend the Waves were not as powerful as they could have been.
“You have to give credit to a good Stanford team he said. They really swung the bats well all weekend against our great pitching. Our offense was unable to really get something going. We had hits throughout the weekend but we were unable to truly gain momentum.”
The team hopes to improve their record in a three-game home series this weekend against New York’s Stony Brook University.
“It’s a long season and we have plenty of games ahead of us and those are the ones that we need to focus on Sever said. In this game you have to have a short memory and bounce back. It’s a new day.”
Inman agrees and said he thinks this weekend is important to turn around the losing streak and go into a successful remainder of the season.
“I think we are confident that we will turn things around this weekend against Stony Brook he said. This weekend is a great chance for our team to build some momentum before conference starts. I think our team is close to being great and if we do well this weekend I think it could be a huge momentum boost for the rest of the season.”
