Noah Godwin
Assistant Sports Editor
Bottom of the ninth. Two outs. Tie game. Pressure? What pressure?
Senior first baseman Steve Kleen responded to this precarious situation with a towering homerun that will certainly be one of the most memorable moments the 2005 season has to offer.
Kleen’s blast completed a sweep of Sunday’s doubleheader against Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo and improved the Waves to 3-3 on the season.
Freshman Barry Enright got the start in the second game and rebounded from a rough outing last weekend with five no-hit innings before relinquishing the lead in the seventh.
“It has been good to see our younger players get the jitters out of the way because they’re going to be a big part of what we do this season,” Head Coach Steve Rodriguez said.
Junior second baseman Nick Kliebert tied the game in the bottom of the eighth with a two-run double to help set up Kleen’s heroics.
But first the Waves had to get through the top of the ninth, and that responsibility fell on freshman Adam Olbrychowski, who had just made his collegiate debut in the eighth inning in relief of freshman left-hander Drew Saberhagen.
Olbrychowski handed the game over to the Waves’ offense after his scoreless ninth inning, and Kleen did the rest.
“We’ve got an attitude that we’re never out of it, and that’s not something a coach can teach,” Rodriguez said.
Kleen finished the series 5-for-12 with three runs scored, two homeruns and three RBI.
He entered the season with a 17-game hit streak and has hit safely in all six games this season.
He is now only seven games shy of tying the West Coast Conference’s all-time record for consecutive games with a hit held by Pepperdine’s Matt Howard, who hit safely in 30 consecutive games in 1987-88.
Kleen has .422 during the streak.
“It’s fun just to be able to watch Kleen play all the time because he’s such a talented player,” sophomore outfielder Mike Craig said.
Junior left-hander Paul Coleman made his first collegiate start in the first game of the doubleheader after pitching well in relief last weekend.
Coleman pitched into the seventh and gave up only three runs before being relieved by Kleen, who had just hit a game-tying homerun in the sixth inning.
“Our more experienced players have been big for us late in the games so far this season,” Rodriguez said.
Trailing 4-3, the Waves responded with a double from sophomore left fielder Luke Salas that tied the game.
The Mustangs chose to intentionally walk freshman Danny Worth to load the bases, and redshirt junior pinch-hitter Taylor Klosowski drew a base on balls to force in the go-ahead run. Kliebert followed by drawing a walk as well to give Pepperdine an insurance run the Waves would not need in the 6-4 victory.
The Waves dropped the first game of the series in a pitcher’s duel, 2-1.
Senior Kea Kometani fell to 1-1 on the season despite giving up only two runs on six hits in six innings. He struck out six batters and walked two.
“Kea gives us a chance every time he’s on the mound, and hopefully he won’t be on the losing end of any more of these types of games,” Craig said.
With Saturday’s start, Kometani moved into a tie for seventh place with Victor Rollo (1982-85) on Pepperdine’s all-time appearance list with 73.
Cal Poly junior Garrett Olson pitched 7.1 innings and gave up only one run to beat Kometani.
Kleen provided the only run with an RBI single in the third inning.
Freshman Jason Dominguez gave the Waves a chance in the later innings with solid relief work, but the Pepperdine offense never got on track.
The Pepperdine pitching staff struggled against University of California, Santa Barbara largely because pitchers couldn’t find the strike zone.
After walking 20 batters in the series against Santa Barbara, the Waves gave up only five walks in the three-game series against Cal Poly.
Up next for the Waves is a trip to play University of Houston. Houston is 1-3 on the season but has not played a team outside of the Top 25.
The two programs have only met once before, and the Cougars took the 2-0 victory in 2003.
02-17-2005
