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Pepperdine University Athletics

Billy Cook
Jeff Golden
Billy Cook
12
Minnesota MINN 9-7
13
Winner Pepperdine PEPP 5-13
Minnesota MINN
9-7
12
Final
13
Pepperdine PEPP
5-13
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Minnesota MINN 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 4 6 12 14 2
Pepperdine PEPP 4 0 0 0 0 0 5 2 2 13 14 1

W: Yost, Edward (1-0) L: Radel, Gus (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | by Athletic Communications

Cook Plays the Hero as the Waves Walk-Off Minnesota

MALIBU, Calif. –Under the cover of darkness, Pepperdine baseball's Billy Cook played the hero as he brought in the game-winning run with a single in the bottom of the ninth, lifting the Waves over Minnesota, 13-12.
 
The Waves (9-7, 2-1 WCC) led the Golden Gophers (5-13) the entirety of the game until the top of the ninth, but pulled through for two runs in the home half to take home the victory.
 
BIG WAVES
  • Sophomore infielder Billy Cook (Monument, Colo./Lewis Palmer HS) was the hero, driving in the winning run in the ninth. He also had himself a day, going 3-for-4 with four RBI on the day.
  • Senior outfielder Cory Wills (Henderson, Nev./Yavapi College) went 2-for-4 with three RBI.
  • Freshman infielder Wyatt Young (Honolulu, Hawaii/Mid Pacific Institute) went 3-for-6 with 2 RBI.
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Minnesota came out of the gates hot, scoring the first run of the game in the first inning. However, the Waves came out in the bottom half. With the bases loaded, Duncan McKinnon had an RBI groundout, scoring Young from third to tie the game. The Waves took their first lead of the game when Cook doubled in both Matthew Kanfer and McAfee. Wills then singled through the right side, giving the Waves a 4-1 lead through one inning of play.
 
Minnesota chipped away at the Waves' lead in the fourth with a solo shot, cutting the lead to 4-2 after 4.
 
In the seventh, Cook walked with the bases loaded, scoring McAfee, who reached on an error. Wills then singled again, bringing in Mike Malinchak and McAfee. Young then singled up the middle, scoring both Wills and Cook to give the Waves a 9-2 lead.
 
In the eighth, the Gophers hit back-to-back home runs, with one of them being a 3-run home run, cutting the lead to 9-6. However, the Waves scored twice in the bottom half, on a Kanfer single and a wild pitch to extend their lead to 11-6 after eight innings.
 
Now chasing five runs, the Gophers had to cook something up to get back in the game. A wild pitch scored one, and a bases loaded walk scored another, cutting the lead to just three runs. Then, a bases clearing double from Jordan Kozicky tied the game for the Gophers. He was brought in by Cole McDevitt, giving the Gophers the lead, 12-11 with just three outs remaining.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, McAfee singled through the right side. He was advanced to second on a groundout from Kanfer. Aharon Modlin then singled up the middle, scoring McAfee to tie the game at 12. After Modlin stole second, he was advanced to third as Malinchak reached on an error, bringing up Cook. After taking a ball, Cook hit a ball up the middle, just out of reach of the shortstop, scoring Modlin, and giving the Waves their ninth victory of the season.

HIGHLIGHTS
 
 
NOTABLES
  • The win is the Waves' first walk-off of the season, and first since last year's West Coast Conference tournament, when Matt Kanfer hit a walk-off home run against Loyola Marymount to extend the Waves' season.
 
UP NEXT
The Waves are back in action tomorrow, as they take on CSUN in a rare Wednesday game. First Pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
FOLLOW
Follow @PeppBaseball on Facebook and Twitter for immediate updates, results and more. Go to PepperdineWaves.com for all information, releases and schedules.
 
 
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