MALIBU, California – Trevor Hinkel threw a career-high 8.0 innings, seven of them scoreless, and the Pepperdine baseball team evened its West Coast Conference series with Portland after defeating the Pilots 6-1 on Saturday afternoon at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
 
The Waves (23-26, 11-15 WCC) scored in four out of the eight and a half innings played against the Pilots (31-20, 17-9). Pepperdine held Portland to its first run in the top of the seventh inning, but the Waves had already had a 6-0 lead.
 
BIG WAVES
 

• Junior RHP Trevor Hinkel (Temecula, Calif./Chaparral HS) threw a career-high 8.0 innings, while giving up five hits and striking out five batters
• Redshirt junior Michael Winaker (Walnut Creek, Calif./San Ramon HS) went 2-for-4 on the day with two RBI, including a double. Winaker tied his career-high in hits and RBI.
• Sophomore outfielder Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling HS) went 2-for-2 including a double and a walk. Bradshaw crossed the plate once.
• Sophomore outfielder Charles Masino (Newbury Park, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) had one hit on the day with two RBI. Masino increased his hitting streak to eight games and his reached base streak is now at 10 games.

GAME RECAP
 
With two outs in the bottom of the first inning, Bradshaw started the rally with a single through the right side. Ryan Johnson (Tempe, Ariz./Seton Catholic HS) roped a double off the left-field wall that moved Bradshaw to third. Winaker sent a two-run single up the middle to get the Waves on the board first and an early 2-0 lead.
 
Pepperdine added another run in the bottom of the second inning after Cole Sheehan (Phoenix, Ariz./Mountain Pointe HS) led off with a single to right field and then stole second and was able to make it to third on a throwing error by the Pilots. Greg Mehlhaff (Gresham, Ore./Clackamas HS) hit a single to right field to score the third run of the game for the Waves
 
Sheehan and Cam Conley (Lincoln University, Pa./Malvern Prep) drew back-to-back walks to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning. Mehlhaff put down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to put runners in scoring position on second and third for the Waves. Masino sent a single back up the middle that scored two and added to the Pepperdine lead at 5-0. In the bottom of the sixth inning, Mehlhaff scored on an error by the Pilots to increase the lead at 6-0.
 
In the top of the seventh inning, Evan Scavotto of Portland hit a one-out triple down the right field line. The Pilots hit a ground ball to the right side to score their first run of the game, making it 6-1.
 
After a scoreless eighth inning, the Waves collected the final three outs in the top of the ninth inning on two ground balls and a strikeout to even the series.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Waves and Pilots will face off in the rubber match on Sunday, May 22 with first pitch set for 1 p.m. Pepperdine will honor its seniors prior to first pitch in the season finale. The game will be streamed live on the WCC Network.