CAREER HIGHS (Hitting): Hits: 4, 5/8/09 at Portland; Runs: 3, 4/11/09 vs. Saint Mary's; HR: 1 (2x), Last: 3/25/09 vs. UCLA; RBI: 2, 5/8/09 at Portland; SB: None; Hitting Streak: 5g, 4/17-4/25/09. 

CAREER HIGHS (Pitching): Strikeouts: 10, 3/21/09 vs. Chicago State (g2); Walks: 5, 5/19/09 at Cal State Fullerton; IP (start): 6.0 (3x), Last: 5/12/09 at Cal Poly; IP (relief): 2.0, 4/13/09 vs. Long Beach State; Winning Streak: 1g (3x), Last: 5/12-5/19/09; Losing Streak: 1g (3x), Last: 5/19/09 - present.

2009 FALL: Named Pitcher of the Tournament for the Blue and Orange World Series ... Started game three (11/15) and scattered three hits and four walks over six innings with six strikeouts ... Walked three straight batters in the second but was able to escape any damage agter picking off Tyler Brubaker leading off secon and inducing a slow roller off the bat of Cody Yount ... Caught another break in the sixth when right fielder Casey Rhoades caught a fly ball in foul territory and doubled off Trent Diedrich sliding into second base ... At the plate, hit .429 with three singles, two RBI and two runs scored ... Also drew four walks and struck out twice ... Walked twice and provided an RBI single in game one (11/12) ... Ripped a second RBI single in game two (11/14).

2009 SUMMER: Played for the LaCrosse (Wis.) Loggers of the Northwoods League ... Teammates with Matt Bywater ... Northwoods League All-Star ... Batted .375 (6-for-16) with two home runs and five RBI through four playoff games ... During the regular season, hit .283 at the plate with six round-trippers and 30 runs driven in ... On the mound, delivered a 3.50 earned-run average with 29 strikeouts.

2009 SPRING: (At the plate): As a freshman, was the lone Wave to appear as a starter, reliever, infielder, outfielder and designated hitter ... Started 25 games on offense and posted a .309 batting average with two home runs, 21 runs scored and eight RBI ... Hit his first collegiate home run as the Waves' starting pitcher at Wichita State (3/15) ... Average ranked third on the team behind Colin Rooney (.327) and Nate Simon (.317) ... Hit .318 with runners on base ... Posted a season-best five-game hitting streak from April 17 to 25 ... Recorded at least one hit in three-straight games vs. Loyola Marymount before going 3-for-4 with a double and run scored at Cal State Northridge (4/21) ... Snapped CSUN's Paul Tremlin’s bid for a no-hitter with a sixth-inning leadoff single and scored the first of five Pepperdine runs that frame ... Doubled and scored two runs during Pepperdine's 15-5 romp over Evansville (3/6) ... Jump started a five-run rally in the ninth inning of game two at Wichita State (3/14) with a pinch-hit single for Ryan Heroy ... Batted .500 during four games vs. Chicago State (3/20-22) with two runs and a sacrifice fly RBI ... Clubbed second and last home run of the year as the Waves' starting first baseman during the fourth inning vs. UCLA (3/25), which tied the game at 1-1 ... Made first of five collegiate starts in left field during first game of San Diego series (3/27) ... Pepperdine’s second leading hitter during series vs. Saint Mary's college (4/9-11) ... Hit .571 (4-for-7) with four runs, walk and two RBI ... Appeared in the second and third games as the starting designated hitter and recorded two hits in both contests, which were the first multi-hit games of his career ... Led Pepperdine at the plate during the LMU series (4/17-19) with a .429 batting average (3-for-7), drawing two walks and scoring a pair of runs in three games at DH ... Scored an insurance run in Waves' 2-0 win over the Lions (4/18) after drawing a leadoff walk in the fifth ... In two games as a starting outfielder at Portland (5/8-10), went 5-for-10 with three runs and two RBI ... Produced a career-high four hits (all singles) in game one of the series and drove in a personal best two runs for his lone multi-RBI effort of the year ... (On the mound): Made 17 appearances on the mound, including 11 starts, and went 3-3 with 43 strikeouts and a 6.14 earned-run average ... 17 of his 43 strikeouts were looking ... His 11 starts - most of which were made during the middle of the week - were second on the team to senior Nathan Newman ... Southpaw led all Pepperdine pitchers with four pickoffs ... Allowed three stolen bases on six attempts ... Pitched 5.1 innings as a reliever, posting a 1.69 ERA with seven punch outs ... Credited with the victory in Pepperdine’s 4-3 Opening Day win vs. Cal State Northridge (2/20) despite pitching just one third of an inning ... Closed out the ninth inning on a ground ball to third base and was the pitcher of record when Simon and Denny Duron hit their game-tying and winning home runs ... Struck out two batters in an inning of relief at USC (2/25) ... Made his first collegiate start at UC Davis (2/28, g2) ... Left the game after six innings of work and holding a 3-2 lead ... Lost the win after reliever Nick Gaudi allowed the tying run to score in the on an eighth-inning sacrifice fly ... Struck out six batters in a start vs. Evansville (3/7, g2) but left the game trailing 2-1 ... Again received little run support in his next start at Wichita State (3/15) despite striking out seven ... Left game after five innings down 3-1 ... Two of those three runs were unearned ... Won first game as a starter with six innings of one-run ball vs. Chicago State (3/21, g2) ... Struck out a career-high 10 batters on 99 pitches, 62 of which were called strikes ... Picked up second and final win as a startedr after pitching six innings of two-run ball at then-No. 18 Cal Poly (5/12) ... The lone runs he allowed were on back-to-back solo home runs ... Gave up five hits to the Mustangs and struck out two.         

2008 FALL: Batted .600 (3-for-5) in exhibition series against Long Beach State with a double, triple, three RBI and a run scored ... Also pitched one inning vs. the Dirtbags, surrendering an unearned run on three walks ... His triple to right center in game 1 (11/1) off starter Andrew Gagnon plated two runs and gave the Waves an early 3-0 lead ... Entered game 2 of series (11/9) as a pinch hitter for Cody Yount and produced two hits in three at bats ... Doubled and scored on Colin Rooney’s 3-run home run in the eighth ... Ripped an RBI single in the ninth ... Roughed up in two appearances by his teammates at the Blue and Orange World Series ... Suffered the loss in game 3 (11/15) for Blue after allowing four runs in two innings ... In game 1 outing (11/12), struck out four batters in three innings allowed two earned runs ... At the plate, scored two runs and collected and RBI on three walks and a hit by pitch.

HIGH SCHOOL: Graduated from Orange Lutheran High School in 2008 ... Four-year varsity letterwinner ... Played centerfield and pitched for head coach Mike Grahovac ... Helped lead team to a Trinity League Championship in 2008, batting .390 with nine doubles, two triples and 24 RBI ... Posted a 0.71 ERA as a sophomore ... Played 97 consecutive games without an error ... Honor Roll student.

CLUB: Played for a number of club teams including Angels Elite, the Brewers area code team, the Yankees scout team and the Trombly Braves from 2005 to 2008 ... Hit a walk-off home run at the 17U World Series.

PERSONAL: Given name is Aaron Lorison Gates ... Nickname is ‘Gator’ ... Son of Randy and Amy Gates ... Has two brothers, James and Duncan, and two sisters, Emily and Megan ... Major is undecided ... Career goal is to become a professional baseball player ... Drafted in the 33rd round of the 2008 MLB draft by the Colorado Rockies.

FAVORITES: Lists Ted Williams as his biggest sports hero ... Favorite pro baseball player is David Ortiz ... Favorite pro baseball team is the Los Angeles Angels ... Favorite movie is For Love of the Game ... Favorite TV shows include Scrubs and Baseball Tonight ... Favorite musical artists are Blink 182 and Third Eye Blind.