Tigers try to break Waves at NCAA regional

Pitcher Max Scherzer was running around his house Monday night anticipating the Tigers trip to Malibu, Calif., and the Pepperdine Regional of the NCAA baseball tournament.

Missouri will face Pepperdine at 5 p.m. today.

“He was so pumped to go that he couldn’t keep still,” friend and fan Lance Edwardssaid.

The team flew west on Wednesday afternoon, and after a four-hour layover in Albuquerque, N.M., arrived in California at dusk, exhausted but with a day to get ready. Practices all day Thursday helped the Tigers get acclimated to the gorgeous weather.

“It’s awesome here, but we’ve got one mission and we’re trying not to get distracted,” catcher J.C. Field said.

Despite Pepperdine’s ability to practice year-round in excellent weather, Field and the team aren’t fazed.

“It’s not an advantage really,” Field said. “We get to practice indoors no matter what, so we’re prepared.”

Pamela Anderson will most likely be in attendance at the game. According to the Los Angeles Times, the model hosted a congratulatory barbecue Monday for the Pepperdine Waves and attends games when her son is performing his batboy duties. For Missouri this is just another distraction to its goal of winning the regional and moving on to the super regional.

Missouri (31-25) is the fourth seed and faces the nationally ranked Pepperdine (40-19) in the second game of the tournament. UCLA (31-23) and UC Irvine (36-22) will launch the regional. Then the Tigers and the Pepperdine Waves will take the field.

Fans in Columbia are psyched and a bit jealous about the Tigers’ opportunity.

“... they really picked it up toward the end of the season, and I’m excited for them and wish I could be in Malibu for the games,” Kindle Tierney, 20, a server at the Heidelberg said.

If the Tigers do well, they could enjoy the coast until June 5, depending on whether a Game 7 is necessary. The champion of the regional will remain in California and face the winner of the Fullerton Regional.

Pepperdine is playing its 23rd appearance in the tournament after winning the West Coast Conference Championship, which earned it an automatic bid into the regionals. Missouri has played in the regional 11 times, losing to Arizona last year in the first game of the Fullerton Regional.