Non-conference play has officially ended for Pepperdine Baseball following a two-game series against the University of Nebraska Huskers on March 18 and 19, at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
Head Coach Tyler LaTorre said he purposefully crafted the team’s schedule to have a difficult non-conference. The goal was to set up the team come time for conference play, so they utilized this last series to tune up any kinks the team may have.
“When those three things work together — pitching, defense and offense — I think I will take our team against anybody in the conference,” LaTorre said. “Because when we do that together, we’re really competitive.”
Junior right-handed pitcher Dylan Stewart started on the mound for the first matchup and gave the Waves a clean two-innings pitched.
In the first, Stewart retired the side in order, picking up two strikeouts and a flyout to redshirt sophomore center fielder Joe Cardinale. He ran into some trouble in the second, allowing the lead runner on base via a walk before picking up two quick outs.
However, before ending the inning without a hitch, Stewart gave up a double past the diving senior third baseman Julian Nunez, giving Nebraska their first run of the game, 0-1.
Offensively, the Waves looked stumped early in the game. The Huskers’ pitching staff retired the Waves’ lineup in order, one through nine, without allowing a single runner on base through the first three innings.
“They obviously had a good arm on the mound, and we didn’t get anything going,” LaTorre said.
The matchup started to slip away from Pepperdine in the third inning. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jordan Cole came into relief for Stewart, but he struggled to secure any outs.
A leadoff walk turned into back-to-back singles, forcing Pepperdine to make a pitching change. Freshman right-handed pitcher Ryan Rios took over on the mound, getting the first out while surrendering a run by a sacrifice flyout to Cardinale.
“[Cole’s] been pitching really good for us midweeks and started against Arizona,” LaTorre said. “[But he] just didn’t have it today, didn’t look like he did last week against Long Beach State.”
Before ending the inning, the Huskers smacked two more singles up the middle, bringing two more runs across the plate for a 0-4 Nebraska lead after three innings.
They would pick up another run in the top of the fourth, extending the deficit to five runs, 0-5. LaTorre said the team is very young and lacks the proper experience of Division I at-bats, but they used non-conference play to build that experience.
“With those inexperienced at-bats, you’re going to have some swings and misses sometimes, and so the emphasis for us is just to get your pitch and not miss it,” LaTorre said. “The more that we buy into our approach, and the more that we buy into our coaching, I think the more that they trust themselves in their approach, I think [we will have] more competitive at-bats.”
The Waves would finally strike in the fourth inning. Senior shortstop Justin Rubin took a deuce to get things started for the Waves before freshman catcher/utility Esteban Sepulveda came through for a two-out RBI single over the Huskers’ first baseman for a 1-5 ballgame.
In the bottom half of the fifth, Pepperdine struck again. This time, Cardinale hit a single up the middle, bringing the Waves’ second run of the game.
Rios ran into trouble in the top of the sixth, allowing a walk and back-to-back single for yet another Husker RBI. With the score at 2-6, Pepperdine made a call to the pen once again as senior left-handed pitcher John Callis came into relief.
Callis would be unable to get an out, allowing two more runs to cross the plate for a 2-8 Huskers lead. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Braden Guentz took over for Callis, getting the last two outs via a sacrifice fly and groundout to redshirt sophomore first baseman Max Bernal.
Following the groundout, Bernal led off for the Waves in the bottom half of the inning, promptly blasting a solo home run over the scoreboard in right field. The Waves would be retired in order following the blast, and after six innings, the Huskers led Pepperdine 3-9.
“[I] keep it simple, shoot it right back where it was coming from, adjust to off-speed stuff that they were giving me.” Bernal said. “And fortunately, I was able to see it pretty well and put some good swings on.”
LaTorre said that Bernal is a name to watch as conference play approaches. He believes that getting his first homer off the board will ignite his confidence and help him find his stride, and Bernal agrees.
“Baseball is baseball, and you just grind through it,” Bernal said. “Today, I was able to kind of flip my luck, and things went my way. So, hopefully, it sparks a good, good run here in the WCC.”
Then, the Waves got hot. After Guentz recorded three quick outs in the top of the seventh, Pepperdine struck back with three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Rubin and Bernal would hit back-to-back doubles down the right field line, bringing home one and two RBIs, respectively.
But just as quickly as they got hot, they cooled down, and Pepperdine lost the series opener 6-9.
Fighting from behind has been a trend for the Waves, but LaTorre said he is not worried about that come conference play.
“We’ve shown the propensity of scoring early in games and then the last few games, we’ve been scoring late,” LaTorre said. “So now, I think it’s about putting those two together and feeling like our offense can be multi-dimensional and feeling like we can score anytime.”
Bernal went 2-5 with a solo homer and a double, bringing home three of the nine Waves’ runs. Rubin went 2-4 with a double and an RBI, Sepulveda went 1-3 with a base knock, a walk and an RBI and Cardinale went 1-4 with an RBI, all according to Pepperdine Athletics.
The Huskers recorded 12 hits to the Waves’ nine.
On March 19, the Waves had to fight from behind once again.
In the first two innings of game two, the Huskers secured two runs off freshman right-handed pitcher Nate Tichy. That second run was gifted to the Huskers off multiple Waves’ throwing errors.
In the top of the fourth, Nebraska built on their lead, adding two more runs off sophomore right-handed pitcher Wyatt Nichol with back-to-back jacks. The Waves responded in the bottom half of the fourth, as senior infielder Cam Conley came through with a two-RBI double to the gap in right center field, making it a 2-4 ballgame.
The Huskers got those two runs right back in the fifth, securing a single and a sac fly to bring the game to 2-6.
Pepperdine would lack the offense for multiple innings, but the Huskers were on the attack, upping their lead to 2-7. Two more innings would pass before another Waves run crossed the plate, this time off a solo homer from freshman outfielder Joey Damelio, bringing the deficit to 3-7.
Damelio would single home another run in the bottom half of the eighth, but Nebraska retaliated with three runs in the ninth inning, making the deficit too large to climb back from, and the Waves dropped the second match of the two-game set 4-11.
Conley went 1-4 with a base knock and an RBI, Damelio went 2-4 with a solo homer and three RBIs and Nunez went 2-4 with two knocks, a walk and a run scored, all according to Pepperdine Athletics.
The Waves look ahead to conference play starting on March 21, as they host the Gonzaga University Bulldogs at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
As Pepperdine begins its hunt for the WCC Championships, Bernal said the team’s biggest strength is their competitive mindset.
“We got dogs on the mound. We [got] dogs at the plate. We really beat ourselves when we when we get beat,” Bernal said. “So now that we’ve kind of worked out all the little kinks and just the small things, we’re starting to get dialed in, and once we get into conference play and we start playing guys more around our caliber of team, we’re gonna realize, ‘Yeah, we’re ready. We’re ready for this.'”
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Email Justin Rodriguez: justin.rodriguez@pepperdine.edu
