It’s been a rough start for Pepperdine Baseball.
The Waves returned home following a three-game road trip to San Diego for the Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament from Feb. 21-23. Going 1-2 on the weekend, Pepperdine picked up their first win of the season against San Diego State University, 7-4, on Feb. 23.
Coming back home 1-7 on the season, the Waves welcomed the No. 18 University of California, Santa Barbara Gauchos on Feb. 25 at Eddy D. Field Stadium, looking to add another W to their win column.
“The consistency needs to continue to get better,” Head Coach Tyler LaTorre said. “We just need to continue to understand that baseball is a sport where anybody can win on any day, and I want our guys to understand that no matter what happens the day before, we still have an opportunity to win [today].”
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Jordan Cole started on the mound for the Waves and ended the first two innings with ease.
In the top of the first, Cole got the first two batters out on four pitches, one-pitch-one-out to the leadoff hitter and three straight strikes to pick up a strikeout. He lost the full count to the three-hole hitter, walking him, before getting the cleanup hitter to groundout on another one pitch at bat, sending the Waves to the plate.
“Throwing strikes and setting the tone is a big thing,” junior catcher Max Aude said. “Jordan Cole did that really well to start us off, and that shows what filling up the zone does.”
The Waves come up to bat with a new look to the lineup.
Leading off, per usual, was senior shortstop Justin Rubin, striking out looking in his first at-bat. Graduate left fielder Nick Upstill moved up to bat second, grounding out to short in his first plate appearance. Max Bernal, redshirt sophomore designated hitter, moved up one spot to the three-hole, working an eight-pitch walk to extend the inning. Cleaning up for the Waves was Aude, who ended the inning with a strikeout swinging.
In the following inning, Cole secured a groundout to senior third baseman Julian Nunez before running into some trouble. He let the next two batters on base via a hit by pitch and another walk but instantly bounced back for the last two outs with a strikeout and flyout to junior center fielder Joe Cardinale.
Nunez moved down fifth in the lineup, flying out to deep center, and freshman first baseman Zack Woodson followed with a strikeout. Senior second baseman Cam Conley found his way into the starting lineup for the second straight game, batting seventh and grounding out to short to end the second inning.
Cole’s outing would only last two innings as freshman right-hander Ryan Rios came in to relieve him. Similarly to Cole, Rios got his first batter out on one pitch — however, the Gauchos struck first with a homer to deep left-center field in the next AB.
Rios would clean up the inning from there, fielding a groundout himself and securing a strikeout.
Rounding out the lineup for the Waves were freshman right fielder Brodey Bitove and Cardinale. Bitove grounded out to third, but Cardinale got the Waves on the hit column with a double to left-center, with the top of the lineup coming back up to the plate.
They were primed to tie the game up, but the Waves failed to capitalize. Rubin struck out for the second out, and Upstill grounded out to first base, stranding the runner on second.
“We need to start working together,” LaTorre said. “I haven’t seen us come together as a lineup. I’ve seen a lot of individuals hitting and just swinging, and what I would like to see our guys do is just kind of work together, put pressure on the pitcher, put pressure on the defense.”
Rios threw his second inning of relief with little interference. He instantly got the first two batters out on a grounder to third and a strikeout but gave up a double as the Gauchos were looking to add on with two outs. Rios was unfazed, however, bouncing back with a strikeout to end the inning.
The Waves found some energy in the bottom of the fourth, and they began to put pressure on the pitcher. Bernal and Aude started with a strikeout and flyout, respectively, but Nunez and Woodson kept them alive, drawing back-to-back walks.
With runners on first and second, Conley came up with a chance to tie the game or perhaps even take the lead. But, he would strikeout, stranding both runners on base.
Entering the top of the fifth, Santa Barbara got hot. Starting the inning with two hits in the game, Pepperdine’s pitching started getting out of hand, and the Gauchos capitalized.
Falling behind in the count with every batter, Rios ran into some trouble on the bases. A leadoff double to kickstart the inning turned into an eventual triple and sac fly, giving Santa Barbara a 3-0 lead.
Redshirt sophomore right-hander Jackson Pace took over for Rios with the bases empty, but he immediately gave up a double and back-to-back walks, giving the Gauchos another chance to strike — however, he picked up the strikeout to stop the flooding.
“Getting behind in counts sometimes gets the best of us,” Aude said. “[It] leads to those big innings that sometimes fall from one run to two and then turn into those big six, seven innings that we’ve seen in the past.”
From there, Santa Barbara’s pitching locked in, and their hitting found its stride. Across the next four innings, the Gauchos scored 10 more runs against the Waves and struck out 10 Waves in the process, with Pepperdine only picking up their first few runs in the eighth inning.
Freshman catcher/utility Esteban Sepulveda singled in the eighth to secure the Waves’ first run, and Woodson reached on the fielder’s choice to bring the Waves’ second run across the plate.
“When you’re playing a nationally ranked team, you have to take advantage of your opportunities,” LaTorre said. “We just didn’t have any opportunities today.”
Pepperdine dropped the matchup 2-13 and moved to 1-8 on the year. The team looks ahead to Feb. 28 as they host Tulane University until March 2, all at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
“We’re at a spot where our program is learning, and we’ll get there, and our guys are working hard,” LaTorre said. “It’s not for lack of effort, it’s not for lack of talent. I think we’re continuing to get better, and it’s exciting where we’re headed.”
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Email Justin Rodriguez: justin.rodriguez@pepperdine.edu
