The Pilots (17-21, 11-9 WCC) dominated USF (16- 27-1, 6-12 WCC), scoring 24 runs over the weekend while cashing in on 32 hits. The Dons only accumulated 14 hits and nine runs in the three-game series. In the first game of the double-header on Saturday, Jeff Pritchard had the only hit of the game for the Dons as the Pilots Brian Graham (7-3) baffled San Francisco with a one-hit complete game.
But Northridge put the game out of reach in the top of the ninth inning after scoring three runs to make it 11-6. Jeff Pritchard was the only Don player to have a multiple-hit game in the series finale, ending the day 2-for-4 with one run, while McCall added his three RBI. Pritchard is currently on a seven-game hitting streak, dating back to the Dons successful three-game series with the Running Utes of Utah. Pritchard has recently been on a tear at the plate, hitting safely in his last seven games.
San Francisco's Peter Dunkle (5-2) received the win after shutting out the Waves in the final 2 2/3 innings while striking out two. The Dons had trailed 3-2 in the ninth when Jeff Pritchard singled in pinch runner Jason Heise, again with two outs, to tie the game 3-3 and send it into extra innings. The loss dropped Pepperdine's record to 10-3 in the WCC (TheFoghorn).
Jeff Pritchard begins his first season in 2007 at the Mission Campus at Santa Clara University as an Assistant Coach. Pritchard, a former outfielder at the University of San Francisco and a junior college All-American at Allan Hancock Junior College in Santa Maria, will be working as a hitting and fielding instructor for the Broncos. Pritchard was the Assistant Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at San Francisco State for Head Coach Matt Markovich from 2003-2005. Pritchard will serve as Manager of the Mat-Su Miners in the Alaska League in the summer of 2007, and in 2006 helmed the Kauai Menehunes of the HCBL.
He was also the manager of the Monterey Bay Sox during the summer of 2005, leading the Bay Sox to a 13th place finish at the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita, and earning the 2005 California Coastal League Manager of the Year award. The Bears' sophomore infielder, Kyle Spraker, was a member of Bay Sox. In 2003, Pritchard was the Assistant Coach with Jon Zuber for the Lafayette, CA Generals American Legion team. Growing up in Carmel Valley, Pritchard was a three-time All-League performer at Robert Louis Stevenson High School from 1993-1995. He went on to be a two-time All-Conference outfielder at Hancock JC, winning the 1996 Western State Conference batting title with a .447 average.
Pritchard then competed two years at USF before playing professional baseball in the Independent League from 1999-2002, finishing his career with the Sonoma County Crushers. Pritchard earned a Bachelor's Degree in English from USF in 2000 and completed a Master's in English from San Francisco State this Fall (SCUAthletics).Â
