Box Score LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Pepperdine baseball team came back from a three-run deficit, silencing the Loyola Marymount offense for the remainder of the game, winning 13-3.
 
Falling behind 0-3 early, the Waves (9-19, 4-2) turned the offense around in the middle of the game while the defense was able to keep the Lions (12-16, 1-5) off the board, scoring 13 unanswered runs and ultimately taking the final game of the series 13-3. Pepperdine moves into a four-way tie for second place in the West Coast Conference.
 
BIG WAVES
 
Senior outfielder Connor Walsh (Niceville, Fla.) was 3-for-5 today and brought two runners home.   
 
Freshman utility player Corwin Hemmingsen (Cave Creek, Ariz.) went 2-for-4 today and tallied his first RBI on the season.
 
Senior outfielder Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle N.Y.) hit two doubles and brought home the go-ahead run in the top of the sixth inning.
 
RECAP
 
After an uneventful two innings to start the game, the Lions would strike first in the bottom of the third inning. A home run over the left field wall and three hits later, LMU would have a 3-0 lead.
 
With no response in the fourth inning, Pepperdine found an offensive groove in the fifth and never looked back. Junior catcher Andrew Savage (Woodstock, Ontario, Canada) started things off for the Waves with a single up the middle of the field. Graduate infielder Brady Renck (Longmont, Colo.) followed Savage's lead, placing his single in left field. Bradshaw would reach on a walk, loading the bases with only one out for junior infielder Julian Nunez (Encinitas, Calif.). Finding a gap on the left side, Nunez singled, scoring Savage and Renck putting runners at the corners. Senior infielder Chalres Masino (Newbury Park, Calif.) put the ball in play, reaching first with the defensive play being made at second base. With a Hemmingsen walk, the bases would once again be full, this time for Walsh. A hard hit ball to the shortstop would be enough to score Bradshaw and advance all the runners. Although three were stranded to end the inning, the Waves went into the bottom half of the fifth tied 3-3.
After the Lions went three-up, three-down, it was time for the Pepperdine offense to pick up right where they left off. The top of the sixth inning started slower than the fifth with LMU quickly getting two strikeouts and only putting one man on base. However, the inning would end with much more excitement than it began. Igniting the offense with his first double of the day, Bradshaw scored junior infielder Cole Sheehan (Phoenix, Ariz.), good for the winning RBI of the afternoon. Following a Lions pitching change, the bases would be loaded once again after Nunez walked and Masino hit his second single of the game, this one to second base. Two runners would be ushered in as Hemmingsen reached first on an error. Walsh followed by dropping a ball into shallow left, scoring Masino and giving the Waves a 7-3 lead by the middle of the sixth inning.
 
No response from LMU in the bottom half of the sixth inning gave Pepperdine the go-ahead to add some insurance runs. Bases were loaded for Masino thanks to two walks and a left-field single from Bradshaw. With a new pitcher, Masino would reach first and two base runners would cross home plate after an error by the pitcher. Hemmingsen followed by raking in his first RBI of the season, singling to left and bringing Nunez home. With bases loaded, Graduate outfielder Nick Upstill (Huntington Beach, Calif.) threaded a ball down the left field line, scoring an additional two with runners at second and third. Savage grounded out to shortstop, scoring Walsh and the Waves would end the half-inning adding six runs to the board.
 
LMU was never able to catch up and Pepperdine would win it 13-3. The Waves improve to 4-2 in WCC play and move to a four-way tie for second place in the conference.
 
UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine will play a mid-week match back home at Eddy D. Field Stadium tomorrow April 2 against Long Beach State University.
 
THE STANDINGS

1. Portland                      3-0                   1.000               17-8                 .680
2. San Diego                   4-2                   .667                 16-10               .615

2. Saint Mary's                4-2                   .667                 15-10               .600

2. Pepperdine                4-2                   .667                 9-19                 .321

2. Gonzaga                     4-2                   .667                 7-17                 .292
3. Santa Clara                 3-3                   .500                 15-10               .600
4. LMU                            1-5                   .167                 12-16               .428
5. Pacific                         1-5                   .167                 5-22                 .185
6. San Francisco             0-3                   .000                 15-14               .517