The win improved Pepperdine’s record to 13-5, while the Cougars dropped to 5-11. Pepperdine is 4-0 vs. the Pac 10 this season.

Alexander’s (Windsor, Calif./Cardinal Newman HS) best day as a Wave came on the heels of classmate Matt Bywater’s (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Thousand Oaks HS) 12 strikeout performance Tuesday against the Cougars, giving Pepperdine its first consecutive wins from its starters since the UC Davis series in late February.

“On this pitching staff, we’re always trying to set the bar a little bit higher and each guy tries to do better than the last,” Alexander said. “There’s no selfishness involved. We’ve all got each other’s back and we push one another to get better everyday.”

Alexander (2-2) lasted 101 pitches through six innings of work and his strikeout total was his most since striking out seven Evansville batters two weeks ago. He also struck out seven batters last season at Cal Poly.

For as good as Alexander was today, his outing did not get off to a smooth start as the Cougars scored in the first on a RBI double that followed a walk and hit by pitch. However, Alexander’s focus improved as the game progressed and he was especially effective by the fourth and fifth innings.

“I was starting to feel more comfortable over the last three innings and was able to get ahead of guys and throw more strikes,” Alexander said. “I found myself in a lot of two-strike situations, which allowed me to throw the pitch I wanted rather than what the batters wanted to hit. I know I hit a couple guys with two strikes, but I was just trying to get ahead as quickly as possible.”

Alexander plunked one batter in each of the first three innings, leading head coach Steve Rodriguez to label the performance as ‘effectively wild.’

“Scotty did a good job pitching for us today but I’m still waiting for him to get locked in with regards to his command,” Rodriguez said. “Overall, I thought he competed real well and found a way for us to get the win.”

Pepperdine responded to the Cougars’ 1-0 lead with three runs on three hits in the first. Bryce Mendonca (San Leandro, Calif./Bishop O’Dowd HS) tied the game after tagging up on Ryan Van Amburg’s (Campbell, Calif./St. Francis HS) sacrifice fly to center, and Trent Diedrich (Fresno, Calif./Bullard HS) came around on Bobby Cozine’s (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Thunder Ridge HS) double to left that made it a 2-1 game.

Junior Colin Rooney (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza HS) scored the inning’s final run on a wild pitch uncorked by Washington State starter Paris Shewey (1-1). The Waves’ third baseman also drove in a key insurance run in the fifth with two outs.

WSU’s Jeremy Johnson took over for Shewey after the first and did a good job of calming the Waves’ offense on four strikeouts, but ran into trouble in the fifth as Mendonca and Diedrich reached base on a hit by pitch and infield single. And with those two runners at the corners, Rooney dropped a RBI single that increased Pepperdine’s lead to 4-1.

“I knew I was going to see sliders on just about every pitch, so I scooted up on the plate, guessed right and hit a line drive,” Rooney said.

The extra run gave Pepperdine’s relievers a little more room for error, which they looked like they needed during an exhausting seventh inning.

Tyler Hess (Alamo, Calif./De La Salle HS) started the seventh with a routine pop fly to first in foul territory, but things quickly unraveled for the sophomore as he walked two of the next three batters and allowed a run to score on a hit by pitch — Pepperdine’s fourth of the day.

After Washington State cut the lead to 4-2, Rodriguez brought in Jonathan Harmston (Fresno, Calif./Bullard HS), who got Derek Jones to fly out to shallow left field, and then Bryce Uhrig (Santa Barbara, Calif./Santa Barbara HS) struck out Greg Lagreid to end the inning with the bases loaded.

Uhrig went on to retire the Cougars in order in the eighth, which set up Nick Gaudi’s (Lancaster, Calif./Paraclete HS) fifth-consecutive save.

“The key to that seventh inning was just finding the right matchups,” Rodriguez said. “I wanted Harmston to face the lefty and Bryce to face the righty, and both did a really good job of getting us out of a dangerous situation. Because we just threw Nick yesterday, we didn’t want him to throw any more than he had too. Bryce did great in the eighth and Nick did what he does best.”

Pepperdine’s final run was a solo shot to left-center field by David Harris (Glendora, Calif./Glendora HS) with two outs in the eighth. His blast served as the team’s first pinch-hit home run of the year.

“David’s been scuffling a bit, but his batting practice swings — especially from the right side — have been real good as of late, and I just thought that was a good matchup for him with a lefty on the mound,” Rodriguez said. “This was a great opportunity for him to come in and lay a good swing on something and he did just that.”

Diedrich led all players with three hits, extending his team-leading hitting streak to 11 games. His season batting average now stands at .357. Cozine also had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4 with an RBI, and Mendonca scored two runs as part of a 1-for-3 day at the plate.

Pepperdine continues its eight-game homestand this Friday with the start of a four-game series vs. Chicago State. The Waves and Cougars will start play at 3 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. for a Saturday doubleheader, and again Sunday at 11 a.m.

Score by Innings              1     2    3          4    5    6          7    8    9          R    H    E

Washington State (5-11)     1     0    0          0    0    0          1   0    0            2    5    0

Pepperdine (13-5)               3     0   0          0    1    0          0    1   X            5   10    0

Pitchers: Washington State - Shewey, Paris; Johnson, Jeremy (2); Arnold, Chad (6);

Ratigan, Michael (7); Conley, Adam (8); Harvey, Seth (8). Pepperdine Waves - ALEXANDER, Scott;

HESS, Tyler (7); HARMSTON, Jonathan (7); UHRIG, Bryce (7); GAUDI, Nick (9).

Win - ALEXANDER, Scott (2-2)  Save - GAUDI, Nick (5)  Loss - Shewey, Paris (1-1)  T - 2:55  A - 277

HR PEP - HARRIS, David (2).

Weather: Sunny, 71