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Pepperdine University Athletics

John Peck
Charlie Blake
John Peck
7
Winner Pepperdine PEPP 4-0
5
UCLA UCLA 2-2
Winner
Pepperdine PEPP
4-0
7
Final
5
UCLA UCLA
2-2
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Pepperdine PEPP 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 6 7 9 4
UCLA UCLA 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 2 5 5 3

W: Baird, Jack (2-0) L: Harrison, Charles (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball | | by Athletic Communications

Peck Hits Grand Slam in Comeback Win Over #21 UCLA

LOS ANGELES, California – John Peck hit a grand slam in the top of the ninth inning as the Pepperdine baseball team pulled the comeback to down #21 UCLA 7-5 on Tuesday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
 
The Waves (4-0) held the Bruins (2-2) to only five hits compared to Pepperdine's nine hits. This was Pepperdine's first win over UCLA since 2016.
 
BIG WAVES
 
  • Sophomore infielder John Peck (Moorpark, Calif./Moorpark HS) was 3-for-5 with two doubles and a grand slam. He had five RBI and one run scored.
  • Graduate student outfielder Mike Malinchak (Delray Beach, Fla./American Heritage HS) was 2-for-4.
  • Junior LHP Nathan Diamond (Oak Park, Ill./Oak and River Forest HS) threw 4.2 innings only giving up two hits and two runs. He struck out seven batters.
  • Senior RHP Jack Baird (Parker, Colo./Legend HS) threw 1.1 innings giving up one hit and had one strike out. Baird collected his second win of the season.
 
GAME RECAP
 
Peck started the game off with a double to left-field, but the Waves were unable to bring him around. The Bruins had their first hit of the game in the bottom of the first, but they left him stranded. In the second inning, it was a quick three outs at the top and bottom, and the Waves and Bruins were still tied at 0-0.
 
Quintt Landis (Westlake Village, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) drew a walk and Peck followed it up with an RBI double to left center to get the Waves the first run and lead of the game at 1-0 in the top of the third inning. The Bruins answered back with a walk and a single and the runners got into scoring position on a balk. An error by the Waves advanced the Bruins' runners and gave UCLA the go ahead run at 2-1 in the bottom of the third.
 
After three and a half scoreless innings, UCLA loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh inning. The Bruins drew another walk to score the insurance run and increase the lead to 3-1.
 
Pepperdine had the bottom of the lineup lead off the top of the ninth inning with back-to-back singles by Cam Conley (Lincoln University, Pa./Malvern Prep) and Malinchak. Michael Winaker (Walnut Creek, Calif./San Ramon HS) put a sacrifice bunt down and reached on a throwing error by the Bruins' pitcher, which ultimately brought Conley across home plate to get the Waves within one at 3-2. Charles Masino (Newbury Park, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) also drew a walk which loaded the bases for Peck. On a 0-0 count, Peck blasted a grand slam over the left-field wall to give the Waves a 6-3 lead. With two outs, Zach Chonkich (Redlands, Calif./Redlands HS) hit an RBI single to right center to extend the Pepperdine lead to 7-3.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, the Bruins got two runners on and the Waves were able to get one out with runners on the corners. UCLA scored on an error and scored another on a right-field single, but a ground out to second base secured the comeback win for the Waves.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Waves will travel to the Lone Star state to play in the 2022 Kleberg Bank College Classic at Whataburger Field hosted by Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Friday, Feb. 25 to Sunday, Feb. 27. During the tournament, the Waves will play Iowa, Wichita State and TAMUCC. The tournament will be streamed on FloBaseball with a required subscription and live stats can be found on the Waves' main athletic page.  Pepperdine will then stay in Corpus Christi and play the Islanders in a single game on Monday, Feb. 28 with first pitch scheduled for 10 a.m. PT and will be live on ESPN+.
 
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