Pepperdine Is Eliminated

Next time, maybe Pepperdine should neglect to change the sheets or stock the refrigerator.

The Waves proved to be overly accommodating as hosts of their first NCAA baseball regional, giving away base hits like they were penny candy Monday afternoon in Malibu during an 8-3 loss to Missouri in the title game.

The Tigers tallied 14 hits in the deciding game of a regional that had been dominated by pitching to become the first fourth-seeded team to advance since the NCAA switched to a four-team regional format in 1999.

“This isn’t an aberration, this isn’t a farce; this is who we were supposed to be,” said Coach Tim Jamieson, whose team won four consecutive games after dropping its regional opener against top-seeded Pepperdine on Friday.

Missouri (35-26) will play Cal State Fullerton (46-13) in a best-of-three super-regional beginning Friday in Fullerton. The Titans eliminated the Tigers last season in a regional at Fullerton after overcoming a one-run deficit in the ninth inning.

Pepperdine (42-21), which fell one victory short of reaching a super-regional for the third consecutive season, had 10 hits against four pitchers but stranded 11 runners and went two for 10 with runners in scoring position.

“I don’t know how much there is to say,” catcher Chad Tracy said. “This is three years in a row. It stinks.”

Unlike Missouri, which turned to Taylor Parker, a reliever who had made only one start this season, Pepperdine decided to go with ace Barry Enright on two days’ rest. Jamieson called Enright courageous but said the right-hander elevated too many pitches and wasn’t the same as he had been Friday, when he held the Tigers to one run in 7 1/3 innings.

Said Enright: “I felt fine. I came in and the adrenaline was going, it just didn’t end up going my way.”

Enright surrendered a run in third inning and was removed in the fourth after yielding consecutive hits with one out. Adam Olbrychowski couldn’t escape the jam, giving up a run-scoring groundout and eventually walking in a run as the Tigers built a 4-0 lead.

Pepperdine made it 4-2 in the sixth inning after putting two on with two out on a walk and a single. Pinch-hitter Mike Craig lined a single off Parker’s leg that ricocheted toward third baseman John McKee, whose errant throw past first baseman Derek Chambers allowed both runners to score.

But Missouri cemented its first super-regional appearance during a four-run seventh that featured a two-run single by McKee and a run-scoring double by Brock Bond, who was four for five and was selected the outstanding player of the regional after hitting .700 with two doubles and two runs batted in.

“It’s frustrating,” Coach Steve Rodriguez said. “I do believe we’re the better team of the four teams here, but sometimes it’s not the better team that wins.”

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Host Cal State Fullerton finished off a clean sweep of its regional with a 10-3 victory over Fresno State in a game that ended at 12:47 a.m. Monday.

The Titans won all three games in the regional, including two against the Bulldogs.

Starter Dustin Miller (12-1) struggled through six innings, giving up a season-high 10 hits, but worked out of several jams. Miller left with two on and nobody out in the seventh and the Titans leading, 9-3. Adam Jorgenson worked out of the jam and also pitched the eighth inning. Ryan Paul struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth.

Blake Davis, who was selected the regional’s outstanding player, had three hits and drove in three runs.

The Titans have won 23 of their last 27 games against Fresno State (45-18) dating to 1995.

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Times staff writer Chris Foster contributed to this report.