JANE LEE
Assistant Sports Editor
Backed by some timely hitting and strong pitching performances, including a complete game by sophomore Barry Enright, the Pepperdine baseball team took two of three games from Oklahoma State this past weekend at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
Coming into the series, it hadn’t been smooth sailing for the Waves (12-10) over the past couple of weeks, as they compiled a record of 6-6 and saw their national ranking, which once was No. 11, continue to drop to its current position at the No.-26 spot.
“I think the rankings were on our minds too much, so maybe that’s why we’ve been struggling a little and our hitting hasn’t been too great,” sophomore right fielder Don Brown said.
After leaving San Diego State on the losing end of two of three games the previous weekend, Pepperdine came out strong against Oklahoma State (10-4) on Friday, as senior left-hander Paul Coleman (3-1) allowed just three hits over 8.1 innings and recorded his 200th career strikeout to lead the Waves to a 4-1 victory.
The Cowboys’ only run of the game came in the third inning without a hit, as a leadoff walk, sacrifice, fielder’s choice and sacrifice fly led a runner home.
Pepperdine quickly erased the 1-0 lead in the fourth inning against Cowboy starter Oliver Odle when Brown singled in junior Luke Salas, who had singled to lead off the inning and advanced to second base on a wild pitch.
The Waves expanded their lead in the sixth inning, as junior catcher Chad Tracy opened the inning with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice and scored the go-ahead run on a single by sophomore shortstop Danny Worth.
Senior third baseman Nick Kliebert, who had walked before Worth’s base hit, then scored on a single by junior designated hitter Michael Beattie.
With the score at 3-1 in the eighth inning, Pepperdine’s final run came on consecutive doubles by Worth and junior first baseman Justin Tellam.
In his longest outing of the season, Coleman walked three and struck out six to increase his career strikeout total to 203. He limited an Oklahoma State offense that came into the game averaging 14.5 hits and 10.7 runs a game to three singles, which included two bunts.
The outstanding pitching performance that Coleman produced was followed by an equally impressive outing by Enright (4-1) the following day. The right-hander scattered seven hits while pitching his first career complete game to help Pepperdine defeat the Cowboys 6-3 and clinch the three-game series.
Enright allowed three runs (two earned), walked one and struck out one to lead the Waves to their season-high fourth consecutive win.
After trailing 2-1 at the end of the fourth inning, Pepperdine scored four times with two outs in the fifth against Cowboys pitcher Charles Benoit to grab a 5-2 lead.
The rally began when senior left fielder Brandon Daguio walked with one out. After being sacrificed to second by senior second baseman David Uribes, the Waves received four consecutive singles from Worth, Tracy, Kliebert and Brown to expand the lead.
Oklahoma State scored a run in the top of the sixth before Tellam completed the scoring with a leadoff home run in the eighth inning.
Leading the Waves offensively was Tracy, who led the team in hits with three, and Brown, who collected three RBI.
“My goal as a hitter is to be aggressive, especially behind Chad,” Brown said. “I have to try to protect Chad, so when I see a good pitch I can’t miss it.”
Brown collected two more RBI while going 2-for-4 with an RBI triple and double in Sunday’s series finale, but the Waves came up short in extra innings, as Oklahoma State rallied to score two late runs to avoid a sweep with a 3-2 victory over Pepperdine.
After tying the game on a two-out RBI single in the eighth by Cowboys center fielder Corey Brown, Adam Carr drove the first pitch of the 10th inning over the left field wall to complete the comeback victory.
The home run came off freshman Brett Hunter (2-1), who picked up the loss in the midst of surrendering his first run in his short Pepperdine career, ending his streak of 17 scoreless innings.
The Waves received another great pitching performance, this time by sophomore starter Adam Olbrychowski, but the offense was only able to produce six hits.
Olbrychowski pitched 7.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits while striking out four.
“Adam pitched a great game,” Brown said. “He’s been dominating this season, and it’s just great to see him go after hitters like that.”
His opposition, Cowboy pitchers Matt Gardner and Jordy Mercer, held Pepperdine to two runs on six hits while striking out nine.
With the game tied, Pepperdine had a pair of late opportunities to go ahead of Oklahoma State in the eighth and 10th innings. Uribes was caught stealing for the second time in the game to waste a leadoff walk in the eighth and, following a walk by Tellam, pinch runner Adrian Ortiz was stranded on first to end the game.
“Overall, the series went pretty well,” Brown said. “Our hitting could’ve been a little better to support our pitching staff, but I think we’re getting better playing as a team.”
Next up for the Waves is a three-game series against Dartmouth at Eddy D. Field Stadium beginning on Friday at 2 p.m.
“We just have to stop trying to do too much,” Brown said. “If we play as a team and play to our potential then we can beat anybody.
“Our pitchers have been great all season, so if we can get the offense going we’re going to be great. We have good hitters, so it’s just a matter of putting all our hits together.”
03-16-2006
