NEW ORLEANS, La. - The Pepperdine baseball team dropped the first game of the day before rallying to take the second and avoid the series sweep.
 
The Waves (5-15) kept it even with the Green Wave (12-8) through the first half of game one before a pair of singles with men on base would help Tulane to pull ahead to win 7-3. Game two saw a different story with Pepperdine pulling ahead early and maintaining their lead to win 4-3.
 
GAME ONE BIG WAVES
 
Senior Charles Masino (Newbury Park, Calif.) finished 2-for-5, including an RBI.
 
Freshman utility player Corwin Hemmingsen (Cave Creek, Ariz.) went 2-for-2 and went 4-for-4 on plate appearances, reaching with two singles, a walk, and being hit by a pitch.
 
GAME TWO BIG WAVES
 
Senior outfielder Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle, N.Y.) finished game two batting .400, including his seventh double of the season.
 
Senior outfielder Connor Walsh (Niceville, Fla.) hit 1-for-4 including a double, tallying three of the Waves' 6 RBIs.
 
RECAP
 
Pepperdine fell in the first of the day, staying even with Tulane for the majority of the game. The Green Wave took an early lead in the bottom of the first going up 1-0.
 
Sophomore RHP Tommy Scavone (Pleasanton, Calif.) shut Tulane's offense down in the second inning and graduate RHP Matthew Boyer (Edwardsville, Ill.) took over in the third, allowing the Green Wave only one hit and no runs through the inning.
 
The top of the fourth is when Pepperdine capitalized on the opportunity to tie the game up. Walsh doubled down the left field line, scoring Junior infielder Luke Pemberton (Boulder, Colo.) who had reached first being hit by a pitch. The fourth inning would end tied 1-1.
 
The Waves' bats stayed hot as Hemmingsen led the fifth inning with a single to shortstop. Graduate infielder Brady Renck (Longmont, Colo.) successfully reached first on a bunt, followed by Bradshaw laying down a sac bunt, leaving a man on second and third with only one out. Masino stepped up to the plate and singled to right field, scoring Hemmingsen and keeping the bases loaded as junior infielder Julian Nunez (Encinitas, Calif.) advanced to second after reaching first on a hit pitch. Junior infielder Cole Sheehan (Phoenix, Ariz.), pinch hitting for Pemberton, scored Renck as his infield hit would sacrifice the runner at second. Pepperdine ends the inning with two hits and two runs, putting them up 3-1.
 
Tulane responded immediately, recording four singles and a sacrificial fly to score two runs, tying the game back up at three a piece to end the fifth.
 
The sixth inning would be where the Green Wave started to take control. Two hits and two walks in the bottom half of the inning would give Tulane the opportunity to score a pair of runs, leading 5-3 going into the seventh.
 
Pepperdine was unable to answer Tulane's two-run sixth inning and would not score the remainder of the game as the Green Wave added two more in the eighth, winning game one 7-3.
 
Game two, starting just 45 minutes after the conclusion of game one, was a hard reset for the Waves. The prior nine innings would soon be forgotten as Pepperdine came out swinging.
 
Renck and Bradshaw started the offense in the first inning with singles to right field. Nunez would come to the plate with runners at the corners and no outs. Although he would not get on base, Nunez hit a ball directly to the first baseman, allowing Renck to score. Walsh would step into the batter's box with Bradshaw on third and Masino on first, who was hit by a pitch. Singling to left field, Walsh was able to advance on the Green Wave's mistake and would find himself on second base, scoring Bradshaw and Masino. The first three outs of the game would come after the Waves took an early 3-0 lead.
 
Tulane cut the deficit to one in the second inning as a left field home run would score two for the Green Wave.
 
Pepperdine didn't let the opposition celebrate their strides towards a comeback for long. The top of the third would start with a single to right by Nunez and a double in the opposite direction by Masino. Graduate infielder Nick Upstill (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was in a perfect position to hit a sac fly into center field, scoring Nunez and giving the Waves breathing room. The good guys would be ahead 4-2 by the end of the inning.
 
The bottom of the fifth would be Tulane's next attempt at a rally. Finding a man on third with two outs, a single to left field would score a run, cutting a two run lead to a much less-comfortable 4-3 margin.
 
Freshman LHP Colin Valentine (Dallas, Texas) and Freshman Matt Queen (Manhattan, N.Y.) put up 2 ⅔ scoreless innings as Tulane could not find an equalizer the next three innings.
 
The ninth inning added insurance for the Waves. With the help of four walks and a Bradshaw double, Pepperdine would be up 6-3 with only three outs to go.
 
Tulane was able to get one of three needed runs, but the combination of freshman RHP Adam Troy (Houston, Texas) and freshman RHP Jordan Cole (Huntington Beach, Calif.) proved to be too much as Pepperdine would win the final game of the series 6-4.
 
UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine travels to Northridge, Calif. for a Tuesday midweek matchup against CSUN at 3 p.m.