Box Score SANTA CLARA, California – The Pepperdine baseball team couldn't complete its rally in the top of the ninth inning against Santa Clara and fell 4-3 on Friday night in game one of their West Coast Conference weekend series at Stephen Schott Stadium.
The Waves (19-17, 7-9) fell behind the Broncos (20-16, 9-7) 3-0 and had the game-tying run on base, but were unable to make a comeback.
BIG WAVES
- Sophomore infielder Nolan Lingley (Tracy, Calif./Ripon Christian School) went 2-for-4, which were both doubles, with one RBI. Lingley crossed the plate twice.
- Sophomore infielder Zach Chonkich (Redlands, Calif./Redlands HS) had one hit and reached base three out of four plate appearances.
- Freshman catcher Cole Sheehan (Phoenix Ariz./Mountain Pointe HS) had one hit and one RBI.
- Freshman RHP Bobby Christy (Odessa, Fla./Sickles HS) threw 3.0 perfect innings in relief.
GAME RECAP
The Broncos scored first on a sacrifice fly to center field to take a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. In the bottom of the third inning, Santa Clara hit an RBI triple to left center to make it 2-0. On another sacrifice fly, the Broncos scored the third run at 3-0 in the third.
Chonkich led off the top of the fifth inning with a single and stole second to get into scoring position. Lingley smacked a double to left center that scored Chonkich and made it 3-1. With one out,
Cam Conley (Lincoln University, Pa./Malvern Prep) hit an infield single to the pitcher that advanced Lingley to third.
Charles Masino (Newbury Park, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) reached on a fielder's choice that scored Lingley to get the Waves within one at 3-2. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Broncos scored another run to increase their lead by two at 4-2.
In the top half of the final inning, with one out, Lingley sent a double down the right-field line to give Pepperdine a runner in scoring position. Sheehan roped a single through the right side that scored Lingley and had the Waves within one again at 4-3. With the tying run on first base, the Broncos shut down the Waves and held onto the win.
UP NEXT
The Waves and Broncos will face off in game two of the WCC series on Saturday, April 23, with first pitch set for 1 p.m. The game will be streamed on the WCC Network.
