SPOKANE, Wash. - The Pepperdine baseball team held onto the lead all game, completing the sweep against Gonzaga with a 7-6 win and going down as only the third team to do so at Patterson Baseball Complex since 2007.
 
The Waves (15-37, 9-15) limited the runners stranded and took advantage of every at bat to take a 7-2 edge by the middle of the fifth inning while the Bulldogs (19-30, 14-10) fell short of a rally. Pepperdine clinched a spot in the West Coast Conference tournament at the sixth seed and will play in Las Vegas, Nevada starting Wednesday, May 22.
 
BIG WAVES
 
Senior infielder Luke Pemberton (Boulder, Colo.) continued his weekend tear, batting .500 with a double and an RBI.
 
Freshman Jordan Cole (Huntington Beach, Calif.) collected his second win on the season, going four innings with four strikeouts and two runs allowed.
 
Graduate infielder Brady Renck (Longmont, Colo.) had two RBIs from a home run as well as a double throughout the game.
 
 
RECAP
 
Striking first all weekend long, the Waves got out in front early. A leadoff walk and double to center by Renck would put two runners in scoring position with nobody out in the top of the first inning. Senior outfielder Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle, N.Y.) dropped a single into the middle of the outfield, scoring two. For his third extra-base hit of the season, freshman utility player Corwin Hemmingsen (Cave Creek, Ariz.) hit a double to left center, putting Bradshaw in a position to score on a defensive Bulldog error. Gonzaga would bat for the first time with a 3-0 deficit.
 
With no damage done in the bottom half of the first inning, Pepperdine went right back to work in the second. Pemberton, after a single to right field, found himself 90 feet from home thanks to the third double of the day, coming off the bat of junior catcher Andrew Savage (Woodstock, Ontario, Canada). Junior designated hitter Justin Rubin (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) brought Pemberton home on a sac fly and the second inning ended with a 4-0 Waves lead.
 
Eventually, Gonzaga found momentum on offense, cutting the Pepperdine lead in half in the bottom of the third inning with a two-run shot over the right field wall.
 
Responding immediately, the Waves got their four-run lead right back when Renck barreled a two-run home run of his own in the top of the fourth inning. With five innings to go, it was 6-2 Pepperdine.
 
Double number four of the afternoon was threaded down the left field line by Pemberton, scoring senior infielder Charles Masino (Newbury Park, Calif.) from first after he singled to the third baseman. The Waves were four innings away from the WCC tournament, leading 7-2.
 
The Bulldogs began to rally in the bottom of the sixth inning. Two would score on a triple to right center, cutting the Gonzaga deficit to three with nine outs to go.
 
Gonzaga added another two in the bottom of the seventh with two hits and a Pepperdine error. Damage was limited as bases were left loaded and the Waves held a 7-6 edge.
 
Freshman RHP Matt Queen (Manhattan, N.Y.), who had come in for the final out of the seventh, recorded his first save as he put on a clinic to close out the game. A nine-pitch bottom of the eighth recorded no damage. With one hit and one Bulldog reaching after being hit by a pitch in the bottom of the ninth, Gonzaga was one base hit away from tying the game. On three strikes, Queen sent the final batter packing and secured the sixth seed for Pepperdine in the WCC tournament.
 
The Waves survive in a thrilling 7-6 win.
 
UP NEXT
 
Pepperdine will open postseason play in Las Vegas, Nevada against Saint Mary's May 22 at 3 p.m.