MORAGA, California – The Pepperdine baseball team bounced back and defeated Saint Mary's 7-1 on Saturday afternoon at Louis Guisto Field in game two of their West Coast Conference series.
 
The Waves (17-12, 6-5) fell behind 1-0 to the Gaels (19-12, 3-8) in the second inning, but a six-run top of the third inning put Pepperdine on top. Pepperdine held Saint Mary's scoreless for the final seven innings and evened the series 1-1.
 
BIG WAVES
 

• Sophomore outfielder Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling HS) went 2-for-4 including a double.
• Sophomore designated hitter Charles Masino (Newbury Park, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) went 2-for-5 and scored one run.
• Junior outfielder Quintt Landis (Westlake Village, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) had two hits on the day and crossed the plate once.
• Junior infielder Ryan Johnson (Tempe, Ariz./Seton Catholic HS) hit a solo home run and had two RBI on the day. Johnson also scored two runs.
• Redshirt junior outfielder Michael Winaker (Walnut Creek, Calif./San Ramon HS) roped a two-run double.
• Junior RHP Trevor Hinkel (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral HS) tied his career-high of 7.0 innings and gave up seven hits and only one run. Hinkel struck out three hitters and collected his third win of the season.

 
GAME RECAP
 
The Gaels hit an RBI double in the bottom of the second inning to take an early 1-0 lead. In the top of the third, Zach Chonkich (Redlands, Calif./Redlands HS) led off with a walk on four straight balls. Masino hit a slow roller to first base for an infield single that advanced Chonkich to second. Landis put a bunt single down through the left side to move Chonkich and Masino into scoring position. With one out, Johnson was hit by a pitch which moved a runner across home plate to tie the game 1-1. Another hit by pitch from the Gaels advanced another run to give the Waves a 2-1 lead. Cam Conley (Lincoln University, Pa./Malvern Prep) sent a rocket down the right field line for an RBI to extend the Pepperdine lead to 3-1. Jacob Rebrook (The Woodlands, Texas/The John Cooper School) hit an RBI ground ball to the first baseman and put the Waves up 4-1. With two outs, Winaker smacked a double to right center that cleared two base runners for Pepperdine and made it 6-1.
 
In the top of the sixth inning, with one out, Johnson hammered one out to left center for his fifth home run of the season. The Waves shut down the Gaels for the final three innings to collect the game two win and force a rubber match in game three.
 
UP NEXT
Pepperdine and Saint Mary's will play game three on Sunday, April 10 with first pitch set for 1 p.m. The game will be streamed live on the WCC Network.