Final Stats

Box Score

MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine baseball team couldn't find the late rally it needed against Santa Clara on Sunday, falling 8-2 in the finale of the teams' West Coast Conference series.

Pepperdine put up two runs in the sixth inning to cut the deficit in half, but a late grand slam for the Broncos put the game out of reach.

After falling behind 4-0 in the first four innings, the Waves hit back-to-back-to-back singles with one out in the sixth inning, getting a two-run base-hit from Matt Crowder (Atherton, Calif./Menlo School/BYU) to cap the sequence. Pepperdine left two runners on in the inning and was unable to score again off of Santa Clara starter Jacob Steffens, who tossed a complete game.

Steffens went the full nine innings, giving up six hits and just the two earned runs while striking out seven. Pepperdine starter Wil Jensen (Murray, Utah/Cottonwood HS) threw 6.0 innings, giving up three earned runs on seven hits, while striking out seven and walking three.

Jake Brodt hit a grand slam for the Broncos with two outs in the ninth inning to make it an 8-2 game. Austin Fisher and Lucas Eliason each had three-hit days for the visitors.

Brandon Caruso (Pasadena, Calif./Loyola HS) and Ben Rodriguez (Scottsdale, Ariz./Desert Mountain HS) were both 2-for-4 on the day and hit the first two singles in the sixth inning for Pepperdine.

The Waves fall to 17-24, 6-12 WCC with the loss, while Santa Clara moves to 11-31, 7-11 WCC with the win. Pepperdine hits the road for all four games this next week, heading to Cal Poly on Tuesday night, before traveling to San Francisco for a three-game WCC series over the weekend.