SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – The Pepperdine baseball team defeated San Francisco, 9-6, in the West Coast Conference series finale on Sunday afternoon at Benedetti Diamond. The Waves secured the series 2-1.
The Waves (13-20, 6-9) scored first in the first two innings over the Dons (14-17, 5-10) to take a 4-0 lead. Pepperdine held San Francisco scoreless in seven of the nine innings played, though the Dons scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to get within three, 9-6.
BIG WAVES
- Junior shortstop John Peck (Moorpark, Calif./Moorpark HS) was 4-for-5 on the day including a double and two RBI. Peck's four hits tied his career-high. He also scored one run for Pepperdine and had a stolen base.
- Senior outfielder Grant Schoen (Clackamas, Ore./Clackamas HS) was 2-for-5 including his second home run of the season, which was a three-run shot. Schoen had four RBI, which tied his career-high and crossed the plate twice.
- Freshman infielder Jack Basseer (Pleasanton, Calif./Foothill HS) was 3-for-5 including two doubles. Basseer scored two runs on the day.
- Freshman RHP Gunnar Nichols (Burbank, Calif./Burbank HS) threw 3.2 innings and struck out three Dons'. His three strikeouts tied his career-high.
- Freshman RHP Nick Bonn (Laguna Beach, Laguna Beach HS) threw 2.0 innings in relief and collected his second win of the season. Bonn tied his career-high in strikeouts with three.
- Graduate student RHP Jack Baird (Parker, Colo./Legend HS) threw 1.0 innings to collect his fifth save of the season.
GAME RECAP
The Waves jumped out front first after
John Peck hit an infield single and then
Quintt Landis (Westlake Village, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) tripled to left center to bring Peck around and make it 1-0. In the top of the second inning,
Jack Basseer sent one right back up the middle to give Pepperdine a base runner. With one out,
Cam Conley (Lincoln University, Pa./Malvern Prep) drew a walk to put runners on first and second.
Grant Schoen then went yard over the right field wall to give the Waves a 4-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Dons got within one, 4-3, after an RBI single and a two-run home run. The Waves answered in the top of the sixth inning. Basseer led off the inning with a double to left center.
Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling HS) smacked a single to right field to give Pepperdine runners on the corners. With one out,
Luke Pemberton (Boulder, Colo./Boulder HS) put down a beauty of a sac bunt that brought in a run to make it 5-3. Schoen then ripped a single to center field, scoring Bradshaw to double the lead, 6-3.
Ryan Johnson (Tempe, Ariz./Seton Catholic HS) was then hit by a pitch to give Pepperdine runners on first and second. Peck hit his third single of the game that brought in a run, and then took advantage of a Dons' error to score the eighth run and put Peck on second, 8-3.
In the top of the eighth inning, Johnson hit a two-out single to give the Waves a base runner. Peck then smacked a RBI double down the right field line to make it 9-3. In the bottom half of the eighth, the Dons took advantage of two Pepperdine errors and scored three runs on one hit to get within three, 9-6. In the bottom of the final frame, the Dons had one runner on, but were unable to bring him around and retired San Francisco on a ground out to the shortstop to hold onto the victory.
UP NEXT
The Waves will be back on their home turf for a midweek matchup against UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday, April 18. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m. and the game will be streamed live on the WCC Network.
