SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Pepperdine baseball team won an 11 inning battle for the first win of the season in the final game of the Tony Gwynn Legacy Tournament Sunday night.
 
The Waves (1-7) outlasted San Diego State (3-5), capitalizing on Aztec errors and locking down defensively, breaking through on offense in the 11th inning to win the first game of the season 7-4.
 
BIG WAVES
 
Junior RHP Dylan Stewart (Alameda, Calif.) through 5.0 inning pitched only allowed one hit and one run, tallying six strikeouts.
 
Senior second baseman Cam Conley (Lincoln University, Pa.) was 3-for-4 from the plate tonight, stealing home twice and accounting for three of the team's seven runs.
 
Junior Max Aude (Woodland Hills, Calif.) hit the game-winning triple in the top of the 11th inning to drive in three, giving Pepperdine the 7-4 go-ahead lead.
 
RECAP
 
Striking early, the Waves took the lead in the top of the first inning. In back-to-back games, senior Justin Rubin (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) has hit a leadoff double, giving his team a runner in scoring position right off the bat. After a single by senior Julian Nunez (Encinitas, Calif.), Aude got his first RBI of the night, bringing Rubin home from third to give Pepperdine a 1-0 lead by the middle of the first.
 
The Aztecs responded on the first pitch of the bottom of the first with a solo home run to tie the game. Stewart followed with two strikeouts to end the inning.
 
Pepperdine took the lead right back in the top of the second. Thanks to two SDSU errors, Conley, who reached first on a walk, was able to steal home and give Pepperdine a 2-1 lead.
 
Responding from the first inning home run, Stewart did not allow another hit while on the mound. Three hits by the Waves did not accrue any runs and by the middle of the sixth inning, Pepperdine still held a narrow 2-1 lead.
 
Freshman RHP Nate Tichy (San Jose, Calif.) came into the game for Stewart in the bottom of the sixth, sending the Aztecs down in order with two strikeouts.
 
A Conley triple down the left field line to kickoff the top of the seventh ignited the Waves dugout and graduate Nick Upstill (Huntington Beach, Calif.) was able to send a ball deep into center to score the Pennsylvania native to extend Pepperdine's lead to 3-1 by the middle of the seventh inning.
 
Without a response in the bottom of the seventh, the Aztecs were silent on offense until a solo home run in the bottom of the eighth gave them life. Down 3-2, SDSU had an additional three hits in the inning to take the lead, giving the Waves three outs to find an answer, trailing 3-4 by the end of the eighth inning.
 
Refusing to go down without a fight, the Waves walked up to the batter's box ready for a battle. A single by Conley started the rally for Pepperdine and with his speed, two wild pitches put him on third with two outs. A walk put Rubin on first and with runners at the corners, a failed pick-off attempt by the Aztec pitcher gave Conley the opportunity to steal home for the second time in the game, tying it up at four-all. No SDSU answer in the bottom half of the inning, capped off by a sophomore Matt Queen (Manhattan, N.Y.) sent the game to extra innings.
 

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One hit from the Waves in the top of the 10th did not result in a run and Queen continued his tear in the bottom half of the inning, sending the Aztecs packing in order to push the game to an 11th inning.
 
Reaching on an Aztec error, junior RJ Jimerson (Chicago, Ill.) was the first base runner for the Waves. After a single and fielder's choice, redshirt sophomore (Clovis, Calif.) was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Aude.
 
Down in the count 0-2, Aude was fighting off foul balls, looking to simply get on base. Sending a ball sailing into right center field, Aude did much more than he intended, clearing the bases with a triple, bringing three Waves home to give Pepperdine a 7-4 lead.
 

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Redshirt Sophomore RHP Adam Troy (Houston, Texas) came in to close the game out and with no hits allowed, Troy clinched the Waves' first win of the season.
 
Tonight also marks Coach LaTorre's first win at Pepperdine as well as his first win as a coach at the Division-1 level.
 
NEXT
 
The Waves are back in Malibu Tuesday to take on #21 UC Santa Barbara. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. and the game can be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required) with stats available at www.pepperdinewaves.com