Pepperdine’s Aaron Brown and Aaron Barnett stayed in sync every step of the way in leading the Waves to a remarkable 2014 season, and the accolades have coming rolling in.
Brown, a junior, emerged as the ace pitcher of the staff, and Barnett, a durable freshman catcher, earned a plethora of postseason honors after one of the greatest seasons in Pepperdine history.
Brown received All-American honors from four different outlets. The American Baseball Coaches Association recognized him on the first team while the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game bestowed second team honors upon the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Year.
Additionally, Brown was named the WCC Tournament MVP and NCAA Regional MVP after his sterling performances led Pepperdine to the Super Regional.
Selected as the 81st pick in the 2014 Major League Baseball draft, Brown signed with the Philadelphia Phillies and is currently playing for the Williamsport Crosscutters of the Class-A New York-Penn League.
For his outstanding efforts, Barnett was named an All-American by Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA.
Pepperdine concluded the season at 43-18 and earned a final No. 12 national ranking, its best finish since the 1992 season. The Waves’ 43 wins were the most since 1999 and the seventh-most in the program’s 75 year history.
“It was awesome,” Barnett said. “The team played well and we had great chemistry all season. We knew we had something special.”
Together, Brown and Barnett formed a tandem, exemplifying the team’s success. With Barnett behind the plate, Brown was a part of a pitching staff that ended the year with a 2.55 earned run average, good for 10th in the country. It was the lowest ERA by a Waves staff since the 1975 season.
“Our pitching staff was unreal. They were lights out,” Barnett said. “We were so deep. It was great to be a part of.”
The hard-throwing southpaw had a fantastic season for the Waves— recording a 13-1 record and 1.95 ERA on the hill. At the plate, Brown batted .314, smashing a team-high 13 home runs and driving home a team-best 49 RBIs. He also had 76 hits and scored 44 runs, each of which were second-best on the team.
When he wasn’t pitching, Brown played a deft centerfield, anchoring down a defense that had a .973 fielding percentage.
In just his first season of collegiate baseball, Barnett took the WCC by storm with his consistent play-calling behind the dish and tremendous hitting ability at the plate. He posted an astounding .991 fielding percentage as the team’s everyday catcher and threw out 39 percent of attempted base-runners.
Barnett led Pepperdine with a .359 average and a team-high 80 hits to go along with his 27 RBIs and 23 runs.
“It’s really cool to see the hard work pay off. I did the best I could,” he said.
Barnett recently returned from British Columbia, Canada, where he played for the Victoria HarbourCats of the West Coast collegiate summer league. He spent time focusing on different aspects of his game.
It was a season to remember for the Waves as they captured their 17th regular season title overall and second in three years. Steve Rodriguez was named the WCC Coach of the Year after he won his fifth conference title in 11 seasons at Pepperdine.
Seven different players earned postseason honors with Brown and Barnett collecting the significant hardware.
“The team succeeding helped all of us shine,” said Barnett, who also was named to the All-WCC freshman team and was an All-WCC honorable mention selection.
Brown has moved on to play professional baseball but Barnett returns for his sophomore campaign with hopes of taking the next step and reaching the College World Series.
The 2014 season won’t soon be forgotten.
“It was unbelievable,” Barnett said. “I could have never expected it. A phenomenal experience. I wouldn’t trade the season for anything.”
