Box Score Malibu, Calif. – The Pacific Tigers were eliminated from postseason contention with their 6-0 loss against the Pepperdine Waves Friday. The Tigers went 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position as they were shutout for just the second time all year. Pacific is now 21-29 overall and 11-14 in the WCC with the loss. The Tigers can finish as high as sixth in the conference depending on the outcome of this weekend.
After guiding Pacific to wins in four of his last five starts, Will Lydon couldn't continue that streak, taking the loss as he allowed five runs in 5.1 innings of work. It was only the fourth time this year that Lydon has given up more than three earned runs. Lydon ends the season with 91.2 innings pitched, one of just two pitchers in the last four years to break the 90-inning barrier for Pacific.
Fineas Del Bonta-Smith took over with two men on and one out in the sixth and stranded both. He has only allowed three inherited runners to score all year now.
A.J. Puckett, the leader in ERA in the WCC at 1.17, shutout Pacific for eight innings as he got his ninth win of the season and sealed Pepperdine's place in the WCC tournament. Puckett struck out four and gave up five hits in his eight innings.
Danny Mayer had yet another extra-base hit when he double to the leftfield wall on the ground with two outs in the first. Mayer has 32 extra-base hits this season, the most by a Tiger since Justin Baum's 34 in 2005. The junior leftfielder is also the owner of a 20-game hitting streak, almost double Pacific's next longest streak this year of 12 games. He has hit .348 with 20 runs, eight doubles, seven homers, and 15 RBI in his streak.
With his seven-game hitting streak snapped on Tuesday, Nate Verlin started a new one when he went the other way for a short single to start the second. Verlin has reached base 35.6% of the time when leading off an inning.
Pacific put a man in scoring position for the second inning in a row thanks to Lucas Halstead's single to right after Verlin's hit. Halstead put men on first and second with no outs with the hit that pushed his hitting streak to 12 games. He has hit .383 with seven runs, five doubles, three homers, and nine RBI during that streak.
Louis Mejia laid down a bunt to move both runners into scoring position with a very productive first out of the second. Pepperdine's Puckett looked to have a play at third but the third baseman had charged the bunt and didn't get back to cover in time, forcing Puckett to go to first.
The Tigers looked to have a two-run bloop single courtesy of J.P. Yakel when the senior knocked a little flair into short center. Pepperdine's Manny Jefferson dove to his left in a full sprint as he retreated from the shortstop hole to end the inning however, as Pacific stranded men in scoring position the first two innings.
The defense put Lydon in a troublesome patch in the second. The first batter of the inning hit a routine groundout that put the runner on second as a throwing error sailed out of play. Lydon also walked a man and allowed a single, loading the bases with one out. The threat of Gio Brusa's arm held every runner where they were on a flyout to rightfield before Lydon struck out a man to end the inning with panache.
It only took two at-bats for Mayer to put together his third consecutive multi-hit game as the junior singled in the third. A wild pitch made it three innings in a row with runners in scoring position as Mayer advanced. Unfortunately, it also became three innings in a row with RISP stranded as the Tigers couldn't get the hit they needed with two outs.
Pepperdine took the lead with two singles in the third inning. The leadoff man reached and moved to second on a hit-and-run groundout, then scored when the next man dropped a single in front of Mayer in left. The Waves would add another single in the inning but Lydon didn't allow another man to score as the game went to the fourth with Pepperdine up 1-0.
It was Halstead's turn to get in scoring position in the fourth. The sophomore drew a walk despite starting the at-bat down 0-2. Pepperdine tried to hold Halstead on with a pickoff move but threw it into foul territory to let Halstead mosey on down to second with ease. That play didn't make much of a difference thanks to Mejia taking one on the arm for an HBP that would have moved Halstead up regardless. Again, Pacific couldn't score, this time grounding into a 6-4-3 double play that killed the potential rally.
The deficit doubled in the bottom of the fourth thanks to another leadoff single by Pepperdine. That runner would get to third with a sac bunt and a wild pitch before scoring on a groundball single that made it into rightfield to make it 2-0. J.P. Yakel would record his 44th career runner caught stealing to kill Pepperdine's inning as his throw to second easily beat the runner for the third out. Yakel is fifth in Pacific history in runners caught stealing.
After threatening numerous times early, the Tigers were shut down by Puckett once they fell behind. Puckett retired nine straight after the fourth inning. The Tigers did not manage another baserunner against Puckett until Yakel singled to start the eighth.
The Waves broke things open in the sixth with a three-run homer to make it 5-0. It was only the third homer allowed by Lydon this year. Lydon put two more men on before he left the game after 5.1 innings.
Del Bonta-Smith loaded the bases with a walk before he got out of the jam. Facing Manny Jefferson, who is third in the WCC in homers after Pacific's Mayer and Brusa, Del Bonta-Smith forced a lazy foul popup that ended the inning.
For the fifth time in the last six innings, Pepperdine put their leadoff man one, this time with a walk to start the seventh. A single and another walk loaded the bases with one out for the home team. Pepperdine, who was 0-for-3 with the bases loaded in the game, couldn't manage a hit but got a sacrifice fly to make it 6-0.
The Waves loaded the bases again with a walk that ended Del Bonta-Smith's day, with Justin Giovannoni replacing him. Mayer made a diving catch in left to end the inning wonderfully. The ball looked to be headed into the corner for a possible bases-clearing double but Mayer got it just in time to end the inning.
Pacific managed only three hits in the last five innings as they were flummoxed by Puckett and Pepperdine's Max Green. Two of those hits came in the ninth when Halstead and Mejia each singled with two outs but Pacific could do nothing else.
Pacific will have two games left this season, against Pepperdine tomorrow and Sunday. The Saturday and Sunday games against Pepperdine will each be at 1:00 pm.
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