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Pepperdine University Athletics

Billy Cook
Stephen Wandzura
Billy Cook trots home after a walk-off home run.
4
Santa Clara SCU 6-23, 1-8 WCC
5
Winner Pepperdine PEPP 16-11, 7-5 WCC
Santa Clara SCU
6-23, 1-8 WCC
4
Final
5
Pepperdine PEPP
16-11, 7-5 WCC
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 R H E
Santa Clara SCU 0 0 2 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 4 8 0
Pepperdine PEPP 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 5 9 0

W: Kniskern, Trevor (3-3) L: BERNHARDT, Locke (1-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | by Athletic Communications

Cook Vaults Waves in Walk-Off Win Over Santa Clara

MALIBU, Calif. –Billy Cook of the Pepperdine baseball team became the hero for the second time this year, vaulting the Waves over Santa Clara with a home run in the bottom of the tenth, giving the Waves a 5-4 lead.
 
The win is the Waves' (16-11, 7-5 WCC) second by walk-off this year, as they defeated Minnesota earlier in the year on a Cook RBI single. The Broncos fall to 6-23 overall and 1-8 in West Coast Conference play.
 
BIG WAVES
  • Sophomore infielder Billy Cook (Monument, Colo./Lewis Palmer HS) had the big fly in the tenth, his only hit of the afternoon.
  • Freshman infielder Wyatt Young (Honolulu, Hawaii/ Mid Pacific Institute) went 2-for-5 with two RBI, including the game-tying single in the bottom of the ninth.
  • Senior outfielder Matthew Kanfer (Playa Del Rey, Calif./L.A.C.E.S.) went 2-for-5 with an RBI.
  • Sophomore outfielder Mike Malinchak (Delray Beach, Fla./American Heritage HS) went 1-for-2 with an RBI.
 
PLAY-BY-PLAY
Pepperdine struck first in the first inning. After Quincy McAfee doubled down the line, Kanfer knocked him in with a single into right center. After one, the Waves led 1-0.
 
In the top of the third, Santa Clara tied the game on a sacrifice fly, and took a 2-1 lead on an RBI single. After three innings, the Broncos led 2-1.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, the Waves tied the game thanks to a Malinchak sacrifice fly, scoring Kanfer from third, to tie the game at 2 after four.
 
After two innings of scoreless baseball, the Waves retook the lead in the seventh, thanks to a single from Young, scoring Mitchell Dickson from second. Pepperdine took a 3-2 lead into the eighth.
 
The Broncos retook the lead in the eighth with a 2-RBI single to lead 4-3 after eight innings.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, Malinchak led the inning off with a walk, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt. With two outs, Young hit a groundball up the middle which was fielded by the shortstop. As the ball was thrown to first, Malinchak was rounding third. Young beat the throw out, allowing Malinchak to score the tying run and push the game into extra innings.
 
After holding the Broncos in the top of the tenth, the Waves came to the plate. Kanfer almost ended the game with a towering fly ball of his own, but the left fielder caught the ball at the warning track. Then, on the first pitch of the at bat, Cook took a middle-in fastball and drove it to deep center field, flying over the out-stretched arm of the centerfielder and over the wall for his first career walk-off home run.  
 
HIGHLIGHTS
 

UP NEXT
The Waves play host again on Tuesday, when they take on UC Santa Barbara at 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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