Wallace Caps His Big Day With a Good Night, 7-0 : College baseball: Cubs’ No. 1 pick pitches Pepperdine past Texas in College World Series.

The Chicago Cubs made Derek Wallace of Pepperdine the 11th selection in Monday’s major league draft.

Wallace received the news by phone in the morning, celebrated with his parents over lunch then took the mound before a crowd of 11,762 at Rosenblatt Stadium and confirmed his status as one of nation’s top prospects.

Wallace pitched six-plus shutout innings, then gave way to stopper Steve Montgomery as the Waves remained unbeaten in the College World Series with a 7-0 victory over Texas.

It was the second consecutive World Series shutout for pitching-rich Pepperdine, which beat Wichita State, 6-0, in its opener Saturday and has not allowed a run in 29 1/3 innings. Only two other teams have opened the World Series with consecutive shutouts, Wake Forest in 1955 and Florida State in 1970.

The Waves, who finished third in the College World Series in 1979, are one victory away from reaching the championship game. Pepperdine plays Thursday against the winner of today’s elimination game between Texas and Oklahoma. If Pepperdine loses, the Waves will play an elimination game against the same opponent Friday night.

“They are going to be pretty hard to beat,” said Texas Coach Cliff Gustafson, who has brought 16 teams to Omaha. “To have a team come in and pitch shutouts against ranked teams like Texas and Wichita State is quite remarkable.”

Wallace has given up two earned runs in 24 1/3 innings since returning from a leg injury suffered in an automobile accident in March.

“I had two or three hours today to celebrate my personal goals, then I switched to team goals,” said Wallace (4-2), who gave up seven hits against Texas. “Tonight was the most fun I’ve had in my college career.”

Pepperdine first baseman Dan Melendez, a second-round draft pick of the Dodgers, hit his second home run of the series, a two-run shot in the first inning that started the Waves on their way.

Catcher Scott Vollmer homered in the eighth for the Waves, who chased starter Scott Harrison (11-3) after 2 1/3 innings and had eight hits against five Longhorn pitchers.

Wallace pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth inning when he came back from a 3-and-0 count and got Stephen Larkin to ground into an inning-ending double play.

Texas put runners at first and second with one out in the sixth inning, but Wallace induced Clay King to ground into another double play.

“The guy has got style,” King said. “He was hitting the corners and keeping the ball down. He did a good job in those clutch situations.”

Montgomery, a third-round pick by the St. Louis Cardinals, gave up one hit in three innings to earn his eighth save.

Pepperdine Coach Andy Lopez has the luxury of bringing back right-hander Patrick Ahearne, a seventh-round pick by the Detroit Tigers, on Thursday. Junior right-hander Steve Duda, 32-6 in his Pepperdine career, has not even warmed up.

“He’s not chopped liver,” Lopez said of Duda.

Pepperdine took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Melendez hit his 12th homer over the right-field fence after Harrison walked Matt McElreath.

The Waves scored three runs in the third inning on a run-scoring double by David Main, a run-scoring single by Chris Sheff and a wild pitch.