Final Stats

MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine baseball team avenged its one-run loss from last week, beating USC 3-2 at home on Tuesday afternoon in another back-and-forth contest.

The Waves scored the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning after the Trojans tied the game in the top half of the inning. Pepperdine moves to 16-15 with the victory, while USC falls to 15-16.

The Waves jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning when Ben Rodriguez (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) hit a single with two outs to bring in Matthew Kanfer (Playa Del Rey, Calif./L.A.C.E.S.) and Aaron Barnett (Mission Viejo, Calif./Capistrano Valley HS).

The Trojans got a run back in the top of the fifth when a runner scored from third on a double-play ball. USC would tie the game in the seventh courtesy of a Frankie Rios sacrifice fly.

Pepperdine wasted no time getting the lead back. Brad Anderson (Yorba Linda, Calif./Esperanza HS) drew a leadoff walk in the bottom half of the inning and Manny Jefferson (Lakewood, Calif./Lakewood HS) followed with a double down the left-field line to give the Waves runners on second and third with no outs. After a groundout, Chase Lambert (Malibu, Calif./Malibu HS) came up with the USC infield drawn in and singled past shortstop to bring in the go-ahead run.

Evan Dunn (Las Vegas, Nev./Bishop Gorman HS) came in to pitch in the eighth for Pepperdine with a runner on second and no outs, getting a double-play when the runner on second tried to take third on a ground ball. Dunn would get another grounder to end the inning. He worked a perfect ninth to pick up his first save of the year.

Jonathan Pendergast (San Diego, Calif./Catherdral Catholic HS) got the win for the Waves, throwing 4.0 innings of relief. He gave up four hits and two runs in the game. Chandler Blanchard (Henderson, Nev./Coronado HS) got the start for Pepperdine, tossing 3.0 scoreless innings while giving up two hits.

Rodriguez was 2-for-3 at the plate for the Waves in the game and Barnett went 2-for-4. Dillon Paulson was 2-for-2 for the Trojans.

Jeff Paschke, the third USC pitcher of the day, took the loss for the visitors after giving up the go-ahead run.

Pepperdine will be back in action this weekend when they head to LMU for a three-game series starting on Friday. All three games can be seen live on TheW.tv.