Junior Tagg Bozied Connects On 43rd Career Homerun
A day after USF pitching held Pepperdine to just one run on the way to a 6-1 victory, the Waves surged back and held the Dons to just one run running away with an 11-1 West Coast Conference victory at Benedetti Diamond on April 15. Pepperdine (24-17, 12-4 WCC) struck early with a four-run first inning off USF senior starter John Herbert (3-2), who suffered the loss for the Dons (23-16; 8-9 WCC).

Pepperdine scored seven runs on homeruns with junior catcher Dane Sardinha (12) leading the long ball parade with a pair of two-run homers in consecutive plate appearances in the fifth and seventh innings. Duke Sardinha (6) launched a two-run blast in the first, while Waves' lead-off man Woody Cliffords (4) opened the game with a solo shot.

San Francisco pitching allowed 14 hits, including a season-high four homeruns, but USF's defense did not help, committing four errors on the afternoon, with three coming in the eighth inning.

USF junior All-American Tagg Bozied (10) sent his 44th career ball into the parking lot in the eighth inning as the Dons avoided the shutout. Bozied needs just one homerun to tie, two to set the WCC career homerun record held by Loyola Marymount's Chris Donnels (1985-87).

Pepperdine starter Eric Valenzuela (4-1) pitched eight innings, allowing just one run off five San Francisco hits and recorded seven strikeouts and surrendered just one extra base hit to Bozied. No Dons batter collected more than one hit, although senior outfielder Dustin Delucchi (1-4) hit safely to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.

USF hosts Pepperdine in the final game of the series tomorrow at 1:00 PM at Benedetti Diamond.