LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Pepperdine baseball team clinched the 4-3 win in the top of the ninth inning to even the series with Loyola Marymount.
 
With a home run to start the game followed by a total of four doubles, the Waves (8-19, 3-2)  were able to consistently threaten to score. A run in the top of the ninth inning could not be matched by LMU (12-15, 1-4) and Pepperdine is in position to take their second series in a row, a feat that has not happened since April 16 of last year when the Waves took two against San Francisco and Saint Mary's.
 
BIG WAVES
 
Graduate outfielder Nick Upstill (Huntington Beach, Calif.) went 2-for-4 today including a double in the second inning. 
 
Graduate infielder Brady Renck (Longmont, Colo.) hit his fourth home run of the year and the Waves' third of the series.
 
Senior outfielder Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle N.Y.) tallied one double today and recorded two RBIs including the game-winner.
 
RECAP
 
Leading off the game, Renck was loose and ready to go, sending the Waves' 13th home run over the right field wall, putting Pepperdine up 1-0 in the first inning.
 
The Lions would tie the game off two hits in the bottom half of the first inning, ushering a runner in from second on a left field single.
 
Picking up right where they left off, LMU snagged two singles in the second inning and scored two additional runs, giving them a 3-1 lead.
 
Through the next four innings, sophomore RHP Tommy Scavone (Pleasington, Calif.) and sophomore RHP Gunnar Stewart (Alameda, Calif) combined for just three hits with no runs allowed.
 
Heading to the seventh inning, senior outfielder Connor Walsh (Niceville, Fla.) was the Waves' first base runner thanks to a walk. Off the heels of an LMU pitching change, Bradshaw and junior infielder Julian Nunez (Encinitas, Calif.) hit back-to-back doubles to left field, scoring two and tying the game 3-3 going into the eighth.
 
With no runs allowed on either end in the eighth inning, it all came down to the final six outs.
 
To start the top of the ninth inning, Walsh, who had scored two innings prior, nailed a double to right field. After a groundout by Renck gave Walsh an additional 90 feet, Bradshaw stepped up to the plate with one out and a man on third. Battling at home plate, he sent a ball deep enough into right field to score Walsh and give Pepperdine a 4-3 lead.
 
The Lions started the bottom of the ninth inning with a double, immediately threatening to send the game to extra innings. With the tying run at the plate, freshman RHP Matt Queen (Manhattan, N.Y.) and graduate RHP Matthew Boyer (Edwardsville, Ill.) threw two strikeouts and a groundout to shortstop, stifling the Lions hopes of a walk-off win.
 
The Waves take game two of the series 4-3.
 
UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine will resume conference play at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, Calif. to close out the series at Page Stadium Monday at 4 p.m.