MALIBU, California – The Pepperdine baseball team completed its first West Coast Conference series sweep of the season against Pacific, defeating the Tigers 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
The Waves (14-8, 4-2) fought back after falling 2-0 to the Tigers (7-15, 0-6) in the second inning. Pepperdine scored four runs in the fourth inning and held the lead the rest of the game.
BIG WAVES
- Junior catcher Ryan Johnson (Tempe, Ariz./Seton Catholic HS) went 3-for-4 including a three-run home run.
- Freshman infielder Cam Conley (Lincoln University, Pa./Malvern Prep) went 2-for-3 and scored a run.
- Junior LHP Nathan Diamond (Oak Park, Ill./Oak and River Forest HS) threw 4.2 innings in relief to get the win while allowing five hits and striking out six hitters.
GAME RECAP
Pacific took an early 2-0 lead in the top of the second inning. In the bottom of the fourth inning,
John Peck (Moorpark, Calif./Moorpark HS) led off with a double to left-center.
Mike Malinchak (Delray Beach, Fla./American Heritage HS) hit an RBI single through the right side to get the Waves' first run of the game and make it 2-1.
Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling HS) followed Malinchak with a single of his own to left field. On a Tigers' wild pitch, Malinchak and Bradshaw moved into scoring position. With one out, Johnson went yard over the right-center wall and gave Pepperdine the lead at 4-2.
In the top of the seventh inning, Pacific was able to get one back on a single up the middle to make it 4-3. In the second half of the seventh, Conley and
Charles Masino (Newbury Park, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) hit back-to-back singles and Conley was able to advance to third, putting runners on the corners with one out. Peck hit a chopper to shortstop that scored the insurance run for the Waves and made it 5-3.
In the top of the final frame,
Grant Georges (Flower Mound, Texas/Flower Mound HS) came in with one out. Georges collected the last two outs on a strikeout and ground ball to complete his seventh save of the season.
UP NEXT
Pepperdine will host Long Beach State on Tuesday, March 29, for a non-conference midweek matchup. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the game will be streamed on the WCC Network.