FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
Bobby Cozine (Courtesy of Pepperdine Media Relations)
MALIBU, Calif. – Orange’s No. 2, 3 and 4 batters combined for nine hits, three homers, six runs and six RBI in its 14-5 victory over Blue Saturday afternoon in the third and final game of the Pepperdine Blue and Orange World Series at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
Redshirt freshman Miles Silverstein (Bell Canyon, Calif./Calabasas HS) had a near perfect day at the plate as the No. 2 hitter, recording five hits in six at bats to go along with two runs scored and two driven in. His first RBI was a solo shot in the fifth, and he doubled in freshman Casey Rhoades (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake HS) from second during a five-run seventh.
Rhoades, himself, had a flawless day on offense, going three-for-three from the nine hole with three RBI. For the series, the Orange second baseman was second only to Silverstein with a .556 batting average, but led all hitters with six runs driven in.
Orange’s No. 3 slugger, junior first baseman Ryan Heroy (Henderson, Nev./Green Valley HS) had only one hit, but his two-run blast to left field off reliever Matt Bywater (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks HS) gave Orange a comfortable four-run lead at 9-5 in the sixth inning.
Not to be outdone was cleanup hitter Colin Rooney (Yorba Linda, Calif./Saddleback College), who smacked a solo shot in the third to give Orange its first lead of the game at 3-2. He came through again in the seventh with an RBI triple and later scored on dropped pop fly to the infield.
The Orange lineup also boasted multi-hit performers in freshman Brian Humphries (El Cajon, Calif./Granite Hills HS), and sophomores Bobby Cozine (Highland Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge HS), and R.W. Zeller (Milwaukie, Ore./Rex Putnam HS). Each of these youngsters produced two hits and combined for five runs.
Orange’s offense allowed them to score a run in all but three innings, including four in the fifth and two in the sixth in addition to the five in the seventh. They posted single runs from the first through third innings.
Senior Robert Dickmann (Woodland Hills, Calif./Notre Dame HS) was the only Blue hurler to pitch effectively against the Orange, striking out four in the eighth and ninth innings.
Orange starter Nathan Newman (Houston, Texas/Grayson College) was credited with the win despite allowing all five Blue runs. Newman gave up two runs in the first on a David Harris (Glendora, Calif./Glendora HS) round-tripper, then came back in the fourth to give up a RBI single to Alan Cheatham.
Newman uncorked a wild pitch in the fifth that scored sophomore Matthew Frazee (Bainbridge Island, Wash./Bainbridge HS), and later surrender a single to freshman Cody Yount (Paradise Valley, Ariz./Chaparral HS) that plated Harris.
In between and after Newman’s appearances, Orange compiled six innings of scoreless relief from sophomore Keven Inman (Bakersfield, Calif./Garces HS), junior transfer Bryce Uhrig (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara City College) and senior Doug Konoske (Carlsbad, Calif./La Costa Canyon HS).
The Orange bullpen scattered just two hits while striking out eight. Konoske struck out five between the eighth and ninth innings, and completed the series with seven K’s in four innings pitched.
Uhrig, in his two series appearances, allowed just one hit through 14 batters faced for a team low .077 opposing batting average.
Frazee, by far, had the best offensive numbers for the Blue team this past week. The infielder and part-time catcher batted .556 with a double, two runs and an RBI, but only one more of his teammates (Ryan Van Amburg) hit over .300 in the series.
By comparison, Orange had four batters hit well above .500 (Silverstein, Rhoades, Zeller and Rooney), while Heroy produced a .400 average.
Pepperdine Baseball is off for the rest of the fall semester and won’t return to action until its 2009 season opener scheduled for Friday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. vs. Cal State Northridge.
