MALIBU, Calif. - The Pepperdine baseball team outlasted UC Riverside in an extra innings matchup at Eddy D. Field Stadium on a rainy Friday afternoon. 

The Waves (3-7) matched the Highlanders (4-6) run-for-run, out-hitting them 11-6 going into extra innings.  The two teams were tied at three after the first inning, a score that held for the majority of the game. 

In the bottom of the eleventh, senior outfielder Charles Masino singled for the Waves 12th hit of the game, knocking graduate infielder Brady Renck (Longmont, Colo.) home, securing the 5-4 win. 

BIG WAVES 

Senior outfielder Charles Masino (Newbury Park, Calif.) hit .500 on the day including two RBIs.  

Sophomore RHP Gunnar Nichols (Burbank, Calif.) entered the game in the seventh inning and struck out seven of the 15 batters he faced to close out the win. 

Graduate outfielder Nick Upstill (Huntington Beach, Calif.) hit 3-for-5 including three singles.  

GAME RECAP

The Waves came out swinging and matched the Highlanders' three runs in the first inning. Upstill would start the offense with a single up the middle and shortly after advancing to second on a wild pitch. After a walk by junior infielder Julian Nunez (Encinitas, Calif.), senior outfielder Connor Walsh (Niceville, Fla.) would thread a ball down the left field line, scoring Upstill and landing himself on second. Masino followed by grounding out to second base, scoring Nunez and advancing Walsh to third. With two outs, redshirt junior outfielder Luke Pemberton (Boulder, Colo.) laid a bunt down, safely making it to first and scoring Walsh. After one, the score was tied 3-3. 

Offense would fall silent from both ends as it became a pitcher's duel. Sophomore RHP Nick Bonn (Laguna Beach, Calif.) pitched the first five innings, allowing no hits in four of them. Nichols would take over in the top of the seventh after freshman RHP Jordan Cole (Huntington Beach, Calif.) recorded two strikeouts in the sixth. 

Pepperdine took the lead in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a single to right field from senior outfielder Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle, N.Y.), scoring Upstill who had reached first on a walk earlier in the inning. 

After the Highlanders got the run back in the top of the eighth, neither team could find a run in the ninth, sending the game to extra innings tied at four. The 10th was quiet for both teams but the Waves found a winning run in the 11th. Reaching on a walk, Nunez led the inning, landing at second base after a wild pitch. Walsh was intentionally walked to bring a potential for a UC Riverside double-play, but senior infielder Charles Masino (Newbury Park, Calif.) had something else in mind. Another wild pitch would bring Nunez to third and Walsh to second, leaving the winning run 90 feet from home. On a 2-2 count, Masino nailed a ball up the middle, bringing Renck in on a single, securing the 5-4 win. 

UP NEXT

Pepperdine goes to UC Riverside to finish the series in a doubleheader March 3 after Saturday's matchup was postponed due to inclement weather.