Pepperdine Pitchers Silence Toreros Again : College baseball: Waves sweep doubleheader from USD, 6-1 and 2-1.

Pepperdine’s Scott Vollmer must be one of the best college catchers in the nation. He must be. How else can one explain how so many different pitchers from one staff can continually turn in gem after gem, week after week?

The latest two--a two-hitter and a six-hitter--came from junior right-handers Steve Duda and Steve Montgomery, respectively, as Pepperdine swept a key West Coast Conference baseball doubleheader from the University of San Diego, 6-1 and 2-1, Saturday at Cunningham Stadium.

Duda, a 5-foot-10 control-type pitcher who said he left his curveball back in Malibu, had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning of the first game, which was scheduled for seven innings.

Montgomery, the Waves’ 6-4 hard-throwing closer who started for the first time this season and only the second time since his freshman year, threw 135 pitches (82 strikes) and recorded 11 strikeouts.

Duda improved to 6-1 after his eighth start. Montgomery is 5-2 with two saves in 18 appearances.

On Friday, Pepperdine’s Patrick Ahearne, a sinker-ball right-hander, tossed a three-hitter in the Waves’ 3-1 victory.

Ahearne leads the WCC in earned run average at 1.82, followed by Montgomery’s 1.93 and Duda’s 2.20. The next closest is USD’s Mike Saipe at 3.87.

“We’re fortunate,” Wave Coach Andy Lopez said.

Ninth-ranked Pepperdine, which improved to 24-9-1, 13-4, took a 4 1/2-game lead over USD (17-18, 9-9).

Last weekend in Malibu, Pepperdine beat USD in two out of three games, getting back-to-back three-hitters from Ahearne and Duda in the two victories.

USD entered that series last weekend with a .290 batting average. But after getting only 25 hits and seven runs in the six games, the Toreros are now at .270.

“I think our hitters thought they were facing God,” John Cunningham, USD’s bewildered coach, said. “I don’t think we had 10 quality swings all day. You’ve got to give them credit, their pitchers never gave in to the hitter the entire series, in fact, the entire two weekends.

“It was like they had us mesmerized. And we haven’t been like that against anybody else.”

Maybe it was Vollmer, a 6-1, 175-pound junior from Irvine High.

“I like him,” Cunningham said. “There’s no question he’s one of the better catchers around. In addition to his offense, he’s extremely good at handling pitchers, calling games and setting up hitters.”

Said Vollmer: “It makes my job easy when these guys are on like they were this weekend. All three, they really were hitting their spots well.”

Duda lost his no-hitter when he shook off Vollmer for one of the few times in the first game.

On a three-and-two count to USD’s No. 9 batter, Jim Keen, Duda said: “(Vollmer) called for a fastball, and I shook it and threw a change-up. It was my best pitch working so I wanted to throw it.”

He did and Keen managed to drop a single into shallow right center, just beyond the reach of second baseman Steve Rodriguez, right fielder Matt McElreath and center fielder Chris Sheff.