Led by powerful efforts on the pitching mound the Waves broke a five-game losing streak with a series win over Stony Brook this weekend and went on Tuesday night to threaten No. 6 UCLA’s perfect 21-0 record in a close 2-1 loss.
After a loss to New York’s Stony Brook on Friday night junior Matt Bywater shutout the opponent Saturday in front of home fans at Eddy D. Field Stadium in a 3-0 victory. Bywater was awarded the West Coast Conference Co-Pitcher of the Week. Senior pitcher Robert Dickmann carried on the stamina Sunday pitching an entire nine innings and racking up a season-high seven strikeouts resulting in a 4-2 win.
“I feel our team is very encouraged by the series win over Stony Brook Dickmann said. The attitude and demeanor of the guys has changed since the losses last week. We are starting to play with a lot more confidence and most importantly having fun.”
In the Waves’ most recent game sophomore pitcher Aaron Gates kept the team in close distance of the undefeated Bruins at Jackie Robinson Stadium as he struck out a season-high eight batters and pitched for 7.2 innings his career high.
The Bruins were first to light the score board in the fifth inning making it a 2-0 score with a ground ball to short followed by a bunt single to first base. Senior Ryan Heroy had an RBI in the seventh inning making the score 2-1. The run marked the 100th of Heroy’s Pepperdine career.
The first of the series against Stony Brook began Friday with a rough start from Pepperdine pitcher Cole Cook. Stony Brook quickly jumped to a 4-0 lead in the first inning with six singles in a row and scored once more in the fifth and twice in the ninth. Sophomore Nate Johnson’s ninth-inning grand slam racked up four runs four the Waves making it a 7-4 loss. Johnson is the team leader in home runs as this marked his fourth of the season.Bywater’s 3-0 victory shutout Saturday came along with eight strikeouts as he tossed 100 pitches. His WCC Co-Pitcher of the Week award is shared with a freshman pitcher from Loyola Marymount. This is his second time this season to receive the award. “Going into the game my mindset was like usual— to put up a few scoreless innings so that we could play more at ease Bywater said. The defense behind me was making great plays like always. They were turning double plays and throwing runners out.”Senior Colin Rooney led the offense as he hit two doubles and first scored in the second inning off junior Harrison Kain’s single. The Waves added two more to the scoreboard in the seventh. Dickmann helped finish off a successful weekend Sunday afternoon as the team ended with a 4-2 win over Stony Brook. His nine-inning effort is his second complete game of the season. “Stony Brook is a very aggressive team so going into the game I knew I had to keep the ball down in the zone Dickmann said. I was able to get ahead early in the counts with my fastball and finish hitters off with my breaking-ball to get ground outs or strike outs.”Freshman Joe Sever’s single accounted for the first run in the third inning. Heroy’s single in the fifth inning allowed for two more runs and he then reached home from first off Johnson’s bunt hit. “The two wins this weekend were big confidence boosters and they came at a great time since we are just about to start conference where everyone is on a clean slate Bywater said. I knew that for the team once we got another win we would be alright.”The team has this coming weekend off before hosting Cal State Northridge the following Monday and Tuesday at 3 p.m. Conference play begins with Santa Clara the next Friday.
