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STOCKTON, Calif. - With runners on second and third and one out, Matthew Kanfer hit a ball high into the night and over the left field fence, lifting the Pepperdine baseball team over Loyola Marymount 7-6, advancing the Waves to the finals of the West Coast Conference Tournament after facing elimination.

Thanks to the victory, the Waves (31-23) will face off against Gonzaga (31-22) in the WCC Tournament final on Saturday. In their first game of the day, the Waves fell to Gonzaga 4-2, before facing elimination against the Lions (25-19).

BIG WAVES

• Junior outfielder Matthew Kanfer (Playa del Ray, Calif./L.A.C.E.S.) was the hero of the Waves' season, hitting a towering walk-off home run that just snuck around the foul pole in left in the night game. He went 2-for-5 in the game against LMU and 1-for- against Gonzaga.
• Junior outfielder Jordan Qsar (El Cajon, Calif./Valhalla HS) hit his second home run of the tournament, tied at the top of the standings with Kanfer, in the early game and went 2-for-4 in the night game, including a 2-RBI single.
• Junior pitcher Jonathan Pendergast (San Diego, Calif./Cathedral Catholic HS) threw seven innings in the game against Gonzaga, his eighth straight outing going seven or more innings.

PEPPERDINE 7, LMU 6

The Waves started the scoring early, getting a two-RBI single from Jordan Qsar through a shift to give the Waves a 2-0 lead after three innings.

The Lions answered with runs in four straight innings. In the fourth, they got a two-run home run from Billy Wilson to tie the game at two. In the fifth LMU scored a run on a passed ball to take a one-run lead.

In the sixth, the Lions scored two runs thanks to a throwing error and in the seventh LMU scored on an RBI groundout. After six and a half, the Lions led 6-2.

In the home half of the seventh, the Waves struck for two runs. Brandt Belk singled up the middle, scoring Mike Malinchak, who had a pinch-hit single to lead the inning off. Chase Lambert then scored on a passed ball. The Waves looked as though they would rally for more before a video review overturned a safe call at first base. After seven full innings of play, the Lions led, 6-4.

In the bottom of the ninth, Dempsey Grover led the inning off with a pinch-hit double. He was moved to third on a Lambert single to right. Lambert was bunted to second by Aharon Modlin, bringing Matt Kanfer up to the plate. He quickly went down 1-2, but turned on a fastball left up in the zone and put it over the wall in left field, scoring the all-important third run himself to save the season for the Waves.

GONZAGA 4, PEPPERDINE 2

In the first game of the day, the Waves got out to an early 1-0 lead on Qsar's second home run of the tournament, putting the ball almost out of the stadium.

Gonzaga took the lead in the home half of the second on a two-run shot from Nick Brooks. They led 2-1 after two.

The Waves tied the game up in the seventh, on a sacrifice fly from Billy Cook.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Bulldogs took the lead on an RBI single and got an insurance run thanks to a wild pitch, giving them the 4-2 win.

NOTABLES

• This is the third time that the Waves have reached the WCC Tournament Final, winning the tournament in both 2014 and 2015.

UP NEXT

The Waves take on Gonzaga in the final of the Tournament at 3 p.m. If Pepperdine wins, there will be another game following immediately after, scheduled for 7:00.

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