Pep beats two-top five opponents

Noah Godwin
Assistant Sports Editor

University of California, Irvine, certainly must have felt comfortable with a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the eighth inning.

Irvine boasts one of the top pitchers in the nation in preseason All-American closer Blair Erickson. It is hard to capture Erickson’s dominance over every opponent he’s faced this season without actually seeing how overmatched virtually every hitter has been against him.

In nine appearances and only 11.2 innings this season, Erickson had struck out 19 batters and given up only two hits.

Adrian Ortiz takes a swing
(Keith Novosel/Staff Photographer).

The Pepperdine hitters, seemingly unimpressed with Erickson’s success, promptly scored two runs on a triple by junior second baseman David Uribes and a single by sophomore Chad Tracy.

Just that quickly, Erickson’s unblemished record fell to 0-1.

“It doesn’t matter how good you are, eventually you’re going to get hit, especially against hitters as capable as the ones in our lineup,” sophomore pitcher Mike Craig said.

Sophomore Robert Della Grotta scattered eight hits and allowed one run in 5.2 innings, but junior James Johnson recorded the final out of the eighth inning and earned his first victory of the season.

Pepperdine has a stellar closer of its own, and senior Steve Kleen did not disappoint in recording his fourth save of the season.

The Waves will now travel to Santa Clara University for a three-game series this weekend. 

The series marks the beginning of West Conference play, and the Waves, with a record of 12-8, continue to look like one of the favorites after having beaten two top-five teams this season in Tulane University and University of South Carolina, both of which were previously undefeated on the season.

Santa Clara is 13-8 this season and has won its last three series, including a sweep against Brown University this past weekend.

The pitching staff, which began the season, by Head Coach Steve Rodriguez’s own admission, as the biggest question mark, has actually led the team to its recent successes.

Senior right hander Kea Kometani was the one pitcher who had extended experience and success as a starting pitcher entering the season, and the ace has not disappointed.

Kometani struck out six and pitched his fourth career complete game Friday against No.-30 Winthrop University in the 4-1 victory, and the run Winthrop scored was unearned in the eighth inning.

He also extended his streak of not issuing a walk to 20 innings.

The Pepperdine offense provided the run support on a two-run double by junior designated hitter Nick Kliebert and and a two-run homerun by Kleen.

Junior Paul Coleman emerged early this season as the No. 2 starter, and the left hander has dazzled his opponents, teammates and coaches alike.

“Paul is having a terrific season in part because he’s really talented, but also because he worked extremely hard in the off-season,” Rodriguez said.

Coleman was named the Louisville Slugger Player of the Week after striking out 16 batters in a shutout win over New Orleans University in his previous start, and he pitched five innings, struck out six and gave up three runs against No. 22 Oregon State University on Saturday. 

Kleen pitched three scoreless innings in relief to record the 9-4 victory.

The only loss the streaking Waves suffered in the past seven games came at the hands of California State University, Northridge. The Matadors stifled the Waves’ offense, limiting Pepperdine to just one run.

“We’ve got some experienced bats in the lineup, so you’ve got to tip your hat to Northridge for pitching a great game,” Rodriguez said.

Freshman right hander Barry Enright pitched well through six innings with the game tied 1-1. But seven innings proved one too many for Enright, who gave up five runs in the inning and suffered the loss in the 8-1 setback.

Pepperdine travels Santa Clara, Calif. to take on  University of Santa Clara in a doubleheader on Saturday.

03-17-2004