SANTA CLARA, California – The Pepperdine baseball team evened its West Coast Conference series against Santa Clara by completing a comeback and defeating the Broncos 10-7 on Saturday afternoon at Stephen Schott Stadium.
 
For the second game in a row, the Broncos (20-17, 9-8) took an early lead in the first two innings, but the Waves (20-17, 8-9) had a four-run top of the fifth inning to tie the game and a three-run top of the fifth inning to take the lead and never let up. 
 
BIG WAVES
 

• Junior infielder Ryan Johnson (Tempe, Ariz./Seton Catholic HS) went 2-for-4 on the day with two RBI and one run scored.
• Sophomore infielder Nolan Lingley (Tracy, Calif./Ripon Christian School) went 2-for-5 with one RBI.
• Freshman catcher Cole Sheehan (Phoenix, Ariz./Mountain Pointe HS) had two hits on the day.
• Junior outfielder Grant Schoen (Clackamas, Ore./Clackamas HS) had a career-high four RBI.
• Sophomore outfielder Charles Masino (Newbury Park, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) had one hit and crossed the plate three times, which is a career high.
• Freshman designated hitter Jacob Rebrook (The Woodlands, Texas/The John Cooper School) touched home plate three times, which is a career high.
• Freshman infielder Cam Conley (Lincoln University, Pa./Malvern Prep) tied his career-high in runs scored, with three runs. He also hit a solo home run. 
• Redshirt junior LHP Tyler Murrah (Dallas, Texas/Jesuit College Prep) threw 2.2 innings in relief to collect his third win of the season. Murrah only allowed three hits and struck out two batters.
• Junior RHP Jack Chester (Austin, Texas/Hyde Park HS) threw a career-high 2.2 innings while only giving up one hit and tied his career high strikeouts with two. Chester notched his first save of the season.

 
GAME RECAP
 
Santa Clara took an early 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning on two hits, including a home run to left. In the bottom of the second inning, the Broncos tacked on two more to their lead to make it 4-0. Conley led off the top of the third inning with a solo blast over the left-field fence and made it 4-1. Back-to-back singles by Masino and Johnson gave the Waves runners on the corners with no outs. Schoen reached base on a fielder's choice and scored the second run of the inning for Pepperdine to make it 4-2. In the bottom of the third inning, the Broncos scored two more runs on two hits to extend the lead to 6-2.
 
In the top of the fifth inning, Rebrook drew a walk to lead off. The Broncos made an error, which gave the Waves runners on first and second. Masino drew a walk to load the bases with no outs. Johnson smacked a single to left field that scored Rebrook and made it 6-3. Schoen roped a single to right center that scored two runs and got the Waves within one at 6-5. Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling HS) sent a single through the right side to tie the game at 6-6. The Waves took advantage of two Bronco errors in the top of the sixth inning, to score three runs and take the lead for the first time in the series at 9-6. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Coleman Brigman of Santa Clara hit a solo shot to left field and made it 9-7.
 
In the top of the seventh inning, Santa Clara made another error to give the Waves bases loaded with no outs. The Broncos made a play at the plate for the first out of the seventh inning, but Pepperdine still had the bases loaded. Johnson sent a sacrifice fly to the warning track in center that scored a run to make it 10-7.
 
Chester entered in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out and shut down the Broncos in the seventh. Chester and the Waves held Santa Clara scoreless for the final two innings to collect the game two win.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Waves and Broncos will meet in a rubber match on Sunday, April 24 with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the WCC Network.