Fullerton Regional – Pepperdine Preview
By: clemson May 30, 2015

By Trey McCurry.

FULLERTON, CA – Clemson plays Pepperdine Saturday afternoon at 4 PM in the elimination game.  TCI preview’s today’s game.

 

 

 

#4 Pepperdine (30-28) vs. #3 Clemson (32-28)

Saturday; 7:00PM v Goodwin Field v Fullerton, CA

 

The Series

Meetings:                   Clemson and Pepperdine have never met on the baseball diamond

Series Record:            N/A

Neutral Record:          N/A

Last Meeting(s):          N/A

vs. Leggett:                Leggett has never faced Pepperdine in his career

 

The Waves

Head Coach:               Steve Rodriguez (12th season at Pepperdine)

2014 Record:               43-18 (18-9; 1st WCC) – Fort Worth Super Regional – #12 BA, #12 CB, #14 USA

Preseason:                 2nd in West Coast Conference (out of 10 teams)

Neutral Record:           3-1 (2014: 4-0)

Last week:                  Lost 9-3 to Cal State Fullerton on Friday after going 3-1 and winning the WCC Tournament last weekend

 

2015 Batting Stats:      .297 (5.0 RPG) with 97 2B, 13 3B, 49 HR, 218 BB, 77 HBP, 445 K, 30-48 SB

2015 Pitching Stats:     4.13 ERA, .276 OBA (532 hits), 208 BB & 346 K in 512.1 innings

2015 Fielding Stats:     .962 (87 errors in 2291 chances)

 

The Tigers

2014 Record:               36-25 (15-14; T2nd in ACC Atlantic) – Nashville Regional – NR

Preseason:                 3rd in ACC Atlantic Division (7 teams)

Neutral Record:           4-5 (2014: 3-4)

Last week:                  Lost 7-4 to #2 Arizona State on Friday after dropping two of three games at the ACC Baseball Championship last week in Durham, NC

 

2015 Batting Stats:      .287 (6.3 RPG) with 110 2B, 12 3B, 35 HR, 270 BB, 45 HBP, 430 K, 63-87 SB

2015 Pitching Stats:     3.97 ERA, .249 OBA (520 hits), 195 BB & 494 K in 540.0 innings

2015 Fielding Stats:     .960 (92 errors in 2304 chances)

 

Projected Starting Lineups

Pepperdine

C        #33 Aaron Barnett (SO/.299 BA with 10 2B, 1 HR, & 26 RBI in 56 games in 2015)

1B      #24 Brad Anderson (JR/.277 BA with 8 2B, 10 HR, & 40 RBI in 58 games in 2015)

2B      #2 Hutton Moyer (JR/.278 BA with 7 2B, 13 HR, & 38 RBI in 56 games in 2015)

SS      #5 Manny Jefferson (SO/.239 BA with 6 2B, 6 HR, & 28 RBI in 55 games in 2015)

3B      #10 Chris Fornaci (JR/.234 BA with 12 2B, 7 HR, & 26 RBI in 55 games in 2015)

LF      #21 Josh Davis (FR/.220 BA with 3 2B, 4 RBI, & 6 R in 22 games in 2015)

CF      #13 Matt Gelalich (SO/.288 BA with 7 2B, 2 HR, & 22 RBI in 44 games in 2015)

RF      #3 Brandon Caruso (SO/.304 BA with 19 2B, 3 HR, & 24 RBI in 56 games in 2015)

DH     #8 Kolten Yamaguchi (SR/.248 BA with 5 2B, 4 HR, & 19 RBI in 45 games in 2015)

 

Clemson

C        #25 Chris Okey (SO/.317 BA with 16 2B, 12 HR, & 55 RBI in 60 games in 2015)

1B      #6 Andrew Cox (*SO/.237 BA with 6 2B, 9 RBI, & 23 R in 55 games in 2015)

2B      #3 Tyler Krieger (JR/.336 BA with 13 2B, 1 HR, & 39 RBI in 60 games in 2015)

SS      #4 Eli White (SO/.295 BA with 6 2B, 4 HR, & 29 RBI in 60 games in 2015)

3B      #8 Weston Wilson (SO/.257 BA with 9 2B, 5 HR, & 26 RBI in 56 games in 2015)

LF      #26 Reed Rohlman (*FR/.364 BA with 17 2B, 3 HR, & 57 RBI in 60 games in 2015)

CF      #18 Tyler Slaton (SR/.231 BA with 11 2B, 1 HR, & 21 RBI in 60 games in 2015)

RF      #9 Steven Duggar (JR/.304 BA with 12 2B, 5 HR, & 43 RBI in 60 games in 2015)

DH     #12 Robert Jolly (FR/.327 BA with 3 2B, 7 RBI, & 11 R in 24 games in 2015)

 

Projected Starting Pitchers

SO RHP #15 A.J. Puckett (4.05 ERA/7-5/14 starts/91.0 IP/.269 OBA (93 hits)/28 BB/76 K)

vs.

JR LHP #33 Zack Erwin (2.66 ERA/7-4/16 app (15 GS)/101.1 IP/.251 OBA (100 hits)/13 BB/90 K)

 

Worth Noting

  • Clemson is 2-4 all-time on May 30 with a 2-3 mark at neutral sites.
  • The Tigers have made two previous trips to California, both for regular-season tournaments in Fresno where they went 3-3 both times.
  • Clemson is 3-1 all-time against current WCC members, including a 0-1 mark at neutral sites. The Tigers lost 9-2 to BYU in a regular-season tournament at Fresno, CA in 1988 and swept a three-game series at home against Pacific in 2007 (8-3, 4-3 in 11 inn, 5-4).
  • Pepperdine is 6-9 all-time against current ACC teams, including a 2-3 mark at neutral sites and 1-0 mark in NCAA play (Miami (FL) in 1979 CWS). In addition to that game, the Waves dropped two games to Georgia Tech in 1993 in Kissimmee, FL, lost to Notre Dame in Fullerton, CA in 1995, and defeated NC State in Greenville, NC in 2007. Pepperdine won a three-game home series over Wake Forest in 2008 and has played seven games against Louisville (1-0 at home in 2001, 0-3 at home in 2011, and 1-2 at Louisville in 2012).
  • Jack Leggett is 3-0 all-time against WCC opponents with the only three games occurring in the 2007 series against Pacific.