BAKERSFIELD, Calif. – After a back-and-forth scoring game, the Pepperdine baseball team fell 19-11 to CSU Bakersfield in a midweek contest on Tuesday evening at Hardt Field.
The Waves (6-16) and Roadrunners (9-14) exchanged the lead four times, but a nine-run bottom of the sixth put CSU Bakersfield on top and Pepperdine was unable to catch up.
BIG WAVES
- Junior infielder Lincoln Orellana (Apple Valley, Calif./Sheldon HS/Hawai'i/American River College) tied his career-high in hits going 3-for-4 including a home run and a double. Orellana also tied his career-high in RBI with three. He scored twice and had a walk.
- Senior catcher Quintt Landis (Westlake Village, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) was 1-for-3 on the night and had two RBI. Landis crossed the plate twice.
- Graduate student infielder Greg Mehlhaff (Gresham, Ore./Clackamas HS) had a double and two RBI.
- Freshman LHP Chase Landis (Santa Monica, Calif./Harvard Westlake HS) made his collegiate debut.
- Junior RHP Zach Chonkich (Redlands, Calif./Redlands HS) struck out his first batter as a Wave. This is the first pitching season for Chonkich.
GAME RECAP
The Waves took an early lead over the Roadrunners in the top of the first inning. With one out, the Waves had a walk, single through the left side and another walk to load the bases. Pepperdine took advantage of back-to-back CSU Bakersfield errors to jump out front 3-0.
Devon Walczykowski (El Dorado Hills, Calif./Jesuit HS) then hit a sac fly to center to bring in the fourth run for the Waves. In the bottom of the first, the Roadrunners got one run back on a sac fly hit into shallow left center.
In the top of the second inning, Pepperdine added another run thanks to a solo rocket over the center field wall by
Ryan Johnson (Tempe, Ariz./Seton Catholic HS).
Lincoln Orellana then also sent one over the wall in the top of the third inning to give the Waves a 6-1 lead. In the bottom of the third inning, CSU Bakersfield tied the game 6-all scoring five runs on four hits.
The Roadrunners took the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning on a wild pitch, 7-6. The Waves answered in the top of the fifth inning, taking the lead back after
Greg Mehlhaff roped a double down the left field line to score two runs, 8-7. In the bottom of the fifth inning, CSU Bakersfield tied the game, 8-all, on an infield single. The Waves had three straight walks in the top of the seventh inning. Orellana singled to right field that brought in two runs to make it 10-8 in favor of Pepperdine.
Quintt Landis then put down a beautiful squeeze bunt to score another run, 11-8. In the bottom half of the sixth, the Roadrunners took the lead back scoring nine runs on nine hits, 17-11.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Roadrunners added a two-run home run to the lead, 19-11. In the top of the eighth inning, the Waves tried to get something going, but were doubled-up on a line drive. Pepperdine held CSU Bakersfield scoreless in the bottom of the eighth. In the top half of the final frame, the Waves earned a lead-off walk. After one out, Pepperdine had another walk and was hit by a pitch to load the bases. The Roadrunners were able to roll a double-play to retire the Waves and hold onto the win.
UP NEXT
Pepperdine will continue the road trip and head to San Diego for a three-game WCC Series beginning on Friday, March 31 and concluding on Sunday, April 2. Game one on Friday is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will be live on the WCC Network.