JANE LEE
Sports Editor
The No.-19 Pepperdine baseball team kicked off the 2007 regular season the only way it knows how — at least for the past six years.
Led by a strong pitching effort from junior Barry Enright and an impressive debut by sophomore designated hitter Eric Thames, the Waves picked up their seventh-straight season-opening win on Friday by defeating the University of Nevada at Las Vegas in the first meeting of a three-game series in Las Vegas, improving their all-time record in openers to 36-16-1 since 1954.
What followed for the Waves, however, were two losses against the Rebels to close out the weekend series and a tie with Long Beach on Tuesday.
“It’s very early in the season,” Thames said. “It wasn’t the greatest way to start out, but I think in the next couple of games we’ll be able to get into a groove and start getting more wins.”
In the first game against UNLV, Enright lived up to his preseason expectations, looking to be in mid-season form as he worked seven strong innings, allowing just three hits and an unearned run while striking out five and not walking a batter en route to a 4-3 Waves victory at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
With the win, Enright improved his career record to 24-3 to move within one victory of 10th place on Pepperdine’s all-time wins list.
Supplying the offense for Enright was Thames, a transfer from West Valley Junior College, who double, tripled and drove in three runs in his first game for Pepperdine.
Also tallying multiple runs was junior center fielder Adrian Ortiz, who went 2-for-4 in the game.
Sophomore standout closer Brett Hunter grabbed his first save of the season and 12th of his career, moving him into a tie for sixth place on Pepperdine’s all-time saves list.
Unlike the day before, the Rebels had no trouble getting past the Waves’ pitching Saturday, as they scored three first-inning runs and added four more in the third en route to a 9-6 win over Pepperdine.
After retiring the first two batters to open the game, junior starter Jason Dominguez found trouble with the middle of UNLV’s lineup, allowing three runs before surrendering four more in the third to end his day.
The Rebels would score twice again in the game, and despite a valiant effort to catch up, the Waves would fall short.
Despite the loss, the offense continued its hitting stride, with Thames and senior left fielder Luke Salas each compiling three hits and Ortiz adding two.
The final game of the series had the Waves rallying from a 6-3 deficit to tie the game in the fifth inning before a UNLV run in the bottom of the ninth against Hunter lifted the Rebels 7-6 over Pepperdine.
For the second straight game, the Waves fell behind in the first inning as UNLV scored twice off sophomore left-hander Robert Dickmann, who was making his Pepperdine debut after transferring from UCLA.
Dickmann lasted 3.1 innings, surrendering six runs on seven hits while walking two and striking out two.
Highlights from the Waves’ offense on the day included a solo home run by freshman first baseman Ryan Heroy, the first of his career. Sophomore third baseman Chase d’Arnaud led Pepperdine with three hits while freshman designated hitter Mark Tracy collected two and Thames was 1-for-1 with two runs scored and four walks. Thames concluded the series 6-for-9 with four runs scored and five walks.
“The way baseball is, you can get hot and then get cold real easily,” Thames said. “I’m just trying to stay consistent and help the team as much as I can.”
Head Coach Steve Rodriguez said Thames was a welcome addition to the lineup.
“A lot of people don’t know this, but Eric’s been a consistent guy for us since day one,” Rodriguez said. “He’s been a great surprise for the team.”
Thames and his hot bat continued their torrid streak Tuesday, hitting a three-run double that capped a five-run fourth inning that staked Pepperdine to a 7-0 lead over Long Beach State before the 49ers took advantage of eight walks and tied the game on a three-run home run in the eighth inning.
That was how the game at Eddy. D. Field Stadium would end as it was called due to darkness before the Waves could bat in the bottom of the ninth inning.
Senior right hander Robert Della Grotta, making his first start of the 2007 season, worked four strong innings, allowing one hit and two runs while walking two and striking out one before giving way to the bullpen.
“It’s heartbreaking to have a lead like that and then lose it so quickly, but it happens in baseball,” Thames said.
Rodriguez said the Waves need to have the same focus every inning for all innings of play.
“We need to maintain the same level of intensity throughout the entire game,” he said. “If we let our guard down and do things like allow eight walks, they’re going to jump all over us.”
With the recent pitching woes, Rodriguez said a few changes will be made over the weekend, one of them being moving Dominguez into the closer role and giving Hunter a start on the mound.
Changes like these are only temporary, Rodriguez said, as the Waves are looking to mix a few things up and see how players can handle being put in different situations.
“We have one of the best defenses in the country and our offense is great as well, so we’re hoping we can get the pitching to come through,” he said.
Despite losing two and blowing a seven-run lead, it’s still early in the season for the Waves, and Rodriguez saw some good things come out of the games.
“Our offense competed really well, we did a great job on the base paths and we were able to get a lot of pitchers in, which is always good, especially for the freshmen,” he said.
Pepperdine will look to turn things around when it hosts its first series of the season, three games against UC Davis that begins with a 2 p.m. start on Friday at Eddy D. Field Stadium. The Saturday and Sunday matches will begin at 1 p.m.
02-08-2007