MALIBU, Calif. – The #24 Pepperdine baseball team played an unusual doubleheader on Saturday, splitting the two games to take a series win over #16 Michigan.
Mike Malinchak hit a home run in game two to give the Waves some insurance.
The Waves (12-3) got off to a slow start in the first game against the Wolverines (8-7) but picked it up in the second to take the series.
BIG WAVES
- Junior outfielder Mike Malinchak (Delray Beach, Fla./American Heritage HS) had a huge day, going 4-for-4 in the second game including a solo home run in the sixth. He also went 2-for-4 in the first game, going 6-for-8 on the day.
- Junior RHP Gunnar Groen (Austin, Texas/Westlake HS) had a great start in game two, going 6.1 innings and giving up just two hits. One of the two hits was a leadoff home run, the only run he gave up.
- Junior utility Billy Cook (Monument, Colo./Lewis Palmer HS) went 2-for-3 in game one, scoring two runs.
- Senior infielder Justin Lutes (Las Vegas, Nev./College of Southern Nevada) had a big home run in the eighth inning of game one, bringing the Waves to within two runs.
GAME 1 RECAP
In the day's first game, the Wolverines got off to a hot start, scoring on a sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead after one.
Neither team scored until the third inning, when Michigan got another sacrifice fly to take a 2-0 lead. After a hit by pitch, the Wolverines got back to back doubles, scoring three more runs to take a 5-0 lead into the fourth inning.
In the fourth, an infield single plated another run to push the lead to 6-0 after four. Then in the fifth, an RBI groundout gave Michigan a 7-0 lead through five innings.
The Waves got their first runs of the game in the sixth inning, when after Cook and
Aharon Modlin (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) got to second and third, Malinchak singled them both in to cut the lead to 7-2.
Lutes hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning after Cook doubled to right-center, cutting the lead to just three runs, but the Waves couldn't muster anymore.
GAME 2 RECAP
The second game of the afternoon started similarly to the first. Michigan got on the board first on a leadoff home run from Jordan Nwogu. It would prove to be the only run the Wolverines scored. They led 1-0 after one.
In the second inning,
Reese Alexiades (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) singled to right and was brought in by a Malinchak double. Malinchak then scored on a wild pitch to give the Waves a 2-1 lead after two.
Groen gave up the second and final Wolverine hit of the game in the third inning. He went 6-plus innings, giving up just the two hits, and the lone run in the first. He also struck out two batters.
The Waves scored again in the fifth when after a
Wyatt Young (Honolulu, Hawaii/Mid Pacific Institute) single, Modlin tripled down the right field line to give the Waves a 3-1 lead after five.
Malinchak hit a deep fly ball to right field and over the fence in the sixth inning to put the Waves up 4-1.
In the eighth,
Ryan Johnson (Tempe, Calif./Seton Catholic HS) grounded out to first, scoring Alexiades, who reached on a fielder's choice.
Quintt Landis (Moorpark, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) then singled up the middle to score Malinchak and cement the victory and series win.
UP NEXT
The Waves continue their homestand on Tuesday, taking on Cal Poly, who the Waves beat in San Luis Obispo at the beginning of the year, with first pitch scheduled at 2 p.m.
