Final Stats

Box Score G1

Box Score G2

HOUSTON, Texas - The Pepperdine baseball team split a doubleheader with Rice on Saturday, scoring five runs in the final inning of the late game to pick up a come from behind win. The Waves lost 7-6 in the opener and then won the late game 5-2.

Pepperdine loaded the bases in the ninth inning of the first contest, but couldn't come up with the big hit to fall by one run. The Waves again loaded the bases in the seventh and final inning of the second game, but this time came up with two big hits from Aaron Barnett and Jordan Qsar to score all five runs in the seventh.

Pepperdine moves to 6-4 with the split, while Rice moves to 4-8. The Waves take the series 2-1 after winning yesterday's opener 7-5.

The Waves were down to their final out, but strung together four hits, loading the bases and scoring all five runs in the final inning of the seven inning contest to close the doubleheader. Barnett drove in a pair of runs on a single to give the Waves a 3-2 lead and then Qsar doubled in two more runs to make it a 5-2 contest. A hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded brought in the first run for the Waves.

Wil Jensen went the distance in the late game, giving up five hits and just two runs, while striking out three and walking two. Jensen moves to 1-1, earning his first collegiate victory in the game.

Darryn Sheppard provided the only offense for either team in the first six innings of the second game, driving in a run on a single in the second inning and then hitting a solo-homer in the fourth to give the Owls a 2-0 lead heading to the seventh inning.

The Waves dropped a back and forth first game to the Owls, with the lead changing four times in the game. Pepperdine jumped out to a 4-2 lead through the first four innings of play, but a four-run fifth inning, followed by a run in the sixth, gave Rice the lead for good. The Waves made a push in the ninth inning, loading the bases and scoring a run, but a groundout ended the threat and the game.

Matt Gelalich hit his second homer of the year in the first inning of the game and four other Waves had two-hit days. Ben Rodriguez went 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBI.

Pepperdine now returns home for its next eight games, facing Fresno State on Tuesday in Malibu and then opening a three-game series with California on Friday.