MALIBU, California – The Pepperdine baseball team couldn't finish the comeback against UConn, falling 3-2 on Saturday afternoon at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
The Waves (8-6) had a home run in the bottom of the ninth to get within one and then put the tying run on base, but the Huskies (11-1) shut down Pepperdine with a strikeout to close the game.
BIG WAVES
- Junior catcher Ryan Johnson (Tempe, Ariz./Seton Catholic HS) went 2-for-4.
- Sophomore outfielder Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling HS) had a solo home run over the right field wall.
- Senior infielder Greg Mehlhaff (Gresham, Ore./Clackamas HS) also went yard to right center.
GAME RECAP
The Huskies got the bats going early taking a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. After a scoreless third and top of the fourth inning, the Waves came to the plate with Bradshaw leading off. Bradshaw had a hitters count at 3-1, and took the next ball deep over the right field wall to get Pepperdine within one at 2-1.
Following three scoreless innings, UConn had an RBI single to center field in the top of the eighth, scoring the insurance run to make it 3-1. Pepperdine had a hit in the bottom of the eighth, but was unable to score him. In the bottom of the ninth, with two outs, Mehlhaff roped one over the right-center field wall to make it 3-2. A single by Johnson followed the home run, but he was unfortunately left on base and UConn would take the second game of the series.
UP NEXT
The Waves and Huskies face off in the series finale on Sunday, March 13. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. and the game will be streamed on the WCC Network.
