May 11-Sunday marked the end of another crucial weekend of WCC baseball. Pepperdine cruised past Saint Mary’s 15-4, San Diego downed Portland 17-4, Santa Clara eased past Gonzaga 8-1 and San Francisco defeated LMU 6-2.

Pepperdine 15, Saint Mary’s 4
Pepperdine freshman second baseman David Uribes equaled his career-high hit total by going 4-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI to help Pepperdine register a 15-4 victory over Saint Mary's at Louis Guisto Field on Sunday and clinch at least a tie for its fifth consecutive West Coast Conference (WCC) divisional title.

The Waves, who close out their regular season next weekend at Gonzaga, can claim the WCC's Coast Division title outright if Gonzaga defeats Santa Clara in the finale of a three-game series at Buck Shaw Stadium on Monday.

With three WCC games left to play, Pepperdine is 34-18 overall and 22-5 in conference action. Santa Clara is 28-25 on the season and 18-8 in conference play with four games remaining.

The Waves are looking to advance to the WCC Championship Series for the fifth straight season and set up a rematch of last year's championship series against defending conference champion San Diego, which claimed the West Division title with a come-from-behind victory on Saturday.

In Sunday's win over Saint Mary's (18-32-1, 8-18-1), Pepperdine broke open a two-run game in the sixth inning as it scored six runs on six hits to take a commanding 12-4 lead.

Every starter in the Waves' line-up had at least one hit and an RBI in the contest. Senior shortstop Kevin Estrada and junior first baseman Chris Kelly each had two hits and three RBI, while senior designated hitter Ty Harper added three hits.

Leading the way offensively for the Gaels was Bryan Byrne, who went 3-for-5 at the plate with a team-high two RBI. SMC’s Gilbert Gil also recorded a multiple hit game with a 2-for-5 performance.

Junior right hander Brandon Boesch was the beneficiary of the offensive support as he improved to 7-4 on the year after pitching eight innings, allowing seven hits, three earned runs, walking one and striking out five.

San Francisco 6, LMU 2
San Francisco used a five-run fourth and a outstanding complete-game pitching performance from senior right-hander Kevin Annis (6-3) to take a 6-2 West Coast Conference victory over Loyola Marymount Sunday at George Page Stadium. With the win, the Diamond Dons (24-28, 17-13 WCC) win their third consecutive series and win the season set against the Lions (23-29, 10-17 WCC) 4-2.

After USF scored an unearned run in the top of the first inning for the second consecutive day, the Dons threatened for much more in the second. But LMU starting pitcher Justin Abreu prevented any damage, striking out Nick Tarbat with the bases loaded to end the frame. USF left 11 runners on base, compared to just one for the Lions.

The Dons extended their lead to 6-0 with four runs in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs and Ryan Sittauer on second base, the next five USF hitters reached base. The big blow was a two-RBI double by Khamis Zananiri.

LMU managed to get the lead-off batter on base in four of the first six innings, but Annis didn't allow anyone to reach second base, courtesy a pair of double plays and a base runner caught stealing. Annis allowed three hits in the first six frames, facing just one over the minimum.

Annis earned the victory moving to 6-3 on the season, throwing his first career complete-game. The senior allowed two runs on four hits, while striking out six and walking only two. Abreu was charged with the loss, dropping to 5-4 on the season, while Don centerfielder Jason Howard drove in three RBI.

Santa Clara 8, Gonzaga 1
The Santa Clara University baseball team evened up its three-game series with Gonzaga at one game apiece with an 8-1 victory Sunday afternoon at Buck Shaw Stadium. The Broncos improved their record to 28-25 overall and 18-8 in West Coast Conference play while the Bulldogs fell to 23-24-1 overall and 11-15 in league action.

Santa Clara scored once in the second and three more times in the third to take an early 4-0 lead as two Gonzaga errors led to all four of the Broncos' runs. Michael Thompson picked up the game's first RBI with a single to center in the second. Jason Matteucci's sacrifice fly in the third led to the second run while a Will Thompson triple gave SCU a 3-0 lead. Will Thompson came around to score the fourth run when Michael Thompson reached on a Danny Evans error.

Scott Dierks picked up his third hit of the game in the top of the fourth inning with a double to left field and scored his second run of the game one batter later on a RBI single to center by Jack Headley. The final three runs that the Broncos scored came in the bottom of the sixth inning as A.J. LaBarbera connected on his third home run of the season, driving in Will Thompson and Jim Wallace.

Sam Hess broke up the shutout attempt for the Broncos in the top of the seventh inning as he singled home Gordon Corder who reached on a double earlier in the inning.

Kellan McConnell improved to 3-4 on the season for Santa Clara as he went eight full innings in which he allowed only one run on five hits with no walks and five strikeouts. Andrew Slorp threw the ninth inning and struck out two of the four batters he faced.

Eric Dworkis took the loss for the Bulldogs as he allowed eight runs, four of which were earned, on 12 hits with six walks and two strikeouts in six innings of work. Darrin Trautmann and Kris White combined to throw the final two innings as neither pitcher allowed a run.

Will Thompson and Dierks each finished the day with three hits while Headley and Joe Diefenderfer collected two apiece. A.J. LaBarbera's three RBI led the team, followed closely behind by Michael Thompson's two. David Hoffmire came in as a defensive replacement in the seventh inning and picked up a single in the eighth.

Corder and Hess combined for five of the six Gonzaga hits in the game. Jeff Culpepper was the only other Bulldog to register a hit, with his coming in the fourth inning.

Santa Clara and the Zags will conclude their three-game series Monday afternoon in Buck Shaw Stadium at 2:30 p.m.

San Diego 17, Portland 4
San Diego put nine runs on the board in the seventh inning to put the Pilots away and sweep the weekend series with a 17-4 win. San Diego improves to 29-27 overall, 18-12 in conference play, while Portland falls to 9-40-1 overall, 5-21-1 in the WCC. The Toreros claimed the WCC West Division title with the victory Saturday at Pilot Stadium.

USD took the lead in the second when senior Zach Dobek hit a home run to dead center field.

Portland starter Trent Kristjanson got out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in the third inning. He forced a foul ball fly out by USD’s number three hitter, Freddy Sandoval. Then Kristjanson struck out hot-hitting clean-up batter Josh Hansen to end the threat.

The Pilots carried the momentum into the bottom half of the third with a two-out rally. Kory Casto drew a two-out walk and Brock Griffin was hit by a pitch. Travis Vetters then beat out a play at first for an infield hit to load the bags. Justin Pierce drew a four-pitch walk to score Casto from third and tie the game at 1-1.

Both starters pitched well and got out of jams through the first five innings. USD put two runs up in the sixth to take the lead. Sandoval and Hansen led off with consecutive singles. Kristjanson got the next two batters out, but Jose Ortega came through with a two-run single to left field making it a 3-1 ball game.

The Toreros continued to damage into the seventh and blew the game open. USD batted around en route to a nine-run inning. Portland used three pitchers before retiring the third out. Lucas Wennersten’s three-run double highlighted the inning for San Diego.

USD had seven hits in the seventh, six singles and Wennersten’s double. Tony Perez drove in two runs with a two-out single.

In the Pilot seventh, Vetters hit an RBI single down the right field line, his third hit of the day.

San Diego scored four more in the eighth to extend the lead to 16-2. USD had six more hits in the inning, three singles and three doubles. Dobek had a two-run double and Perez an RBI single in the inning.

Casto’s double in the bottom of the eighth gave him two more RBI, 50 on the season.

For the Pilots, Travis Vetters went 3-for-5 with and RBI, while teammate Kory Casto went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and two RBI. Kristjanson (2-8) recorded the loss for Portland. He threw 6.1 innings and gave up nine runs, 12 hits and two walks, while striking out four.

San Diego’s Tony Perez went 4-for-6 with one run scored and three RBI. Teammate Zach Dobek went 2-for-6 with a double, a home run, three runs scored and four RBI. Justin Blaine recorded the win for the Toreros, he improves to 4-4 on the season.