COLLEGES

Ebb tide: So much for momentum. Pepperdine had won 21 of 25 games entering its West Coast Conference series at Santa Clara last weekend, but the Waves slipped badly, losing all four games.

It marked the first time the Waves had been swept in a conference series since 1985 and, more important, probably cost them a shot at qualifying for the NCAA tournament.

Santa Clara (29-16, 17-3 in WCC play) leads Pepperdine (28-21, 14-6) by three games with eight to play. The WCC champion faces the winner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference in a best-of-three playoff to gain an automatic berth in the tournament.

“It was a disappointing weekend, especially when you consider how hard the team worked to put themselves in a position to contend for the conference championship,” Pepperdine Coach Frank Sanchez said.

The chances of Pepperdine, ranked No. 25 by Collegiate Baseball last week but unranked this week, gaining an at-large berth are negligible.

Waiting game: Baseball teams don’t like extended layoffs but that’s exactly what Cal Lutheran faces after completing its regular season last weekend by sweeping to the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship.

The Kingsmen (33-7, 20-1 in SCIAC play) will practice and play intrasquad games until the best-of-five NCAA Division III West Regional begins May 15.

Because Cal Lutheran is the top-ranked team in the region, it probably will play host to the regional at Moorpark College.

The Kingsmen most likely will face Chapman, which finishes its regular season in the La Verne tournament this weekend. Cal Lutheran and Chapman split a two-game series last month.