The team’s 70th Opening Day was arguably one of the most memorable in team history as the Waves (1-0) fought back from deficits of 2-0 and 3-2.

"We’ve had quite a few exciting Opening Days wins, but today’s may have been the most surprising because of the number of home runs that we hit," head coach Steve Rodriguez said. "This is a good win for the program and ranks right up there as one of the most exciting."

Duron’s (Shreveport, La./Evangel Christian Academy) game-winning hit almost wasn’t as he pulled an inside fastball just over reach of leftfielder Richard Cates, who just had given his team a 3-2 lead on a solo shot earlier in the inning.

"He (Matador relief pitcher Jimmy Jolicoeur) jammed me pretty good, but it just happened to get out," Duron said. "I saw the trajectory once it left the bat and thought it had a chance, and then I thought he (Cates) caught it. The game wasn’t over until he came down without the ball."

Duron’s heroics were made possible thanks to Simon’s (Duvall, Wash./Redmond High School) multi-hit afternoon, which included a double off the wall in the right and a two-run opposite field blast to left in the fourth inning.

As the textbook definition of clutch on this day, both of Simon’s home runs tied the game in the exact same innings CSUN took its leads. His first home run tied the game at 2-2.

"His pitch (changeup) hung up and I took a real good swing at it," Simon said of his ninth-inning home run to center off Bryce Schoening. "This win tells a lot about this team. We can come back at any time and we never give up."

Simon’s multi-home run outing was the first of his collegiate career, and his three-hit day tied a career high.

Senior David Harris (Glendora, Calif./Glendora HS) also had a great day at the plate with three hits and a run scored. He came around to score on Simon’s first home run after leading off with a single to left.

"Those two (Harris and Simon) did an amazing job for us and I hope they carry over the type of at-bats they had today and get hot," Rodriguez said. "These are the kind of performances we always want to get out of our seniors so they can have that career year and really fulfill what they always wanted to do in college."

On the mound, senior Nathan Newman (Houston, Texas/Houston Christian HS) delivered eight strong innings of three-hit ball and was just as much of a key performer as his offensive counterparts. Newman struck out five batters and cruised through his final four innings after giving up a two-run home run to Ryan Pineda with one out in the fourth.

"We made some mistakes, but it’s great to get a win like this even if it is early in the season," said an elated Newman. "I’m just so excited for those guys — Duron, Harris, Simon had a great day — they’re just clutch, so no worries. I can’t feel my arm right now, but the rest of me feels great because of the ending of this game."

Newman tossed 106 pitches, averaging 13 per inning, to 28 batters, which pleased Rodriguez.

"Nate always gives us a chance to win by going deep into games and keeping his pitch count down," he said.

Junior Bryce Uhrig (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS) started the ninth in relief of Newman and struck out his first batter (John Parham) as a Wave before giving up Cates’ home run. After getting Pineda to foul out to first, Uhrig plunked Chris Hannick and was then pulled for freshman Aaron Gates (Villa Park, Calif./Orange Lutheran).

Gates only pitched the final third of the inning but it was enough to get him the ‘W.’

"It was good to get some of our new guys in there and have them grow faster," Rodriguez said. "Next time though it will be an easier experience for them because they’re not going to always be in the same kind of exciting and pressure-filled atmosphere like they both saw today."

The Waves and Matadors will attempt to keep the excitement up in their series when they resume their three-game set at Northridge on Saturday. The first pitches for tomorrow’s contest and Sunday’s series finale back at Field Stadium are scheduled for 1 p.m.

Pepperdine Waves 4, Cal State Northridge 3
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Cal State Northridge 000 200 001  -  3  5  0      (0-1)
Pepperdine Waves   000 200 002  -  4  8  0      (1-0)
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Pitchers: Cal State Northridge - McCarney; Schoening(8); Jolicoeur(9). Pepperdine Waves -
NEWMAN, Nathan; UHRIG, Bryce(9); GATES, Aaron(9).
Win-GATES, Aaron(1-0)  Loss-Jolicoeur(0-1)  T-2:35  A-513
HR CSUN - Cates; Pineda.
HR PEP - SIMON, Nate 2; DURON, Denny.
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 70
Game notes:
Schoening faced 1 batter in the 9th.
Jolicoeur faced 1 batter in the 9th.