LONG BEACH, Calif.- The Pepperdine baseball team battled with Long Beach State in the lone game of the week, coming out victorious 6-5.
 
Pepperdine (4-14) scored three in the top of the ninth inning to take the win over Long Beach State (6-10), after losing the lead in the sixth inning.
 
BIG WAVES
 
Freshman catcher Esteban Sepulveda (Lancaster, Calif.) hit his first home run of his collegiate career in the top of the second for the Waves' first lead of the night.
 
Senior shortstop Justin Rubin (Bryn Mawr, Pa.) hit the winning run home with 2 RBIs on a single in the top of the ninth inning.
 
Redshirt sophomore RHP Adam Troy (Houston, Texas) closed the game out on the mound pitching 2.0 innings, allowing just one hit with no runs and two strikeouts.
 
RECAP
 
With his first home run of the season as well as the first of his collegiate career, Sepulveda sent the ball flying over the left field wall in the top of the second inning for a solo home run. As the first run scored on either squad, Pepperdine was out to a 1-0 lead early. Senior outfielder Luke Pemberton (Boulder, Colo.) extended it before the end of the inning by taking advantage of a throwdown to second by the catcher, giving him the opportunity to cross home plate. No response by the Dirtbags made it a 2-0 game at the end of two.
 
Steadily, LBSU was making its way back into the game, scoring in the bottom of the third and fourth inning with no Pepperdine response to tie the game at 2-2 by the end of four. No score in the fifth on either side or the top of the sixth for the Waves left the door open in the latter half of the inning for the Dirtbags. Three hits and a Pepperdine defensive error gave LBSU the opportunity to score three and take a 5-2 lead with three innings to go.
 
Chipping away at the Dirtbags lead, the Waves got one back in the top of the eighth. Two base runners, thanks in part to a well-placed bunt by redshirt sophomore outfielder Joe Cardinale (Salinas, Calif.), gave Sepulveda the chance to rake in his second RBI of the night, singling through the right hand side to score Cardinale and bring the deficit to two as Pepperdine trailed 5-3 at the middle of the eighth inning.
 
No runs tacked on by the Dirtbags in the bottom of the eighth gave the Waves three more outs to find at least two runs. With help from the LBSU pitchers, two walks and two batters being hit by a pitch put the Waves within one. Bases loaded, Rubin singled through the right side for the only hit of the inning, scoring two and putting Pepperdine on top 6-5.
 
Troy sent the Dirtbags down in order in the bottom of the ninth as the Waves hung on to win 6-5 at Blair Field.
 
NEXT
 
Baseball has the week off before being back at Eddy D. Field Stadium to take on the Nebraska Cornhuskers. The first of two games in a midweek series will be Tuesday, March 18 at 3 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ (subscription required), live stats can be found at  www.pepperdinewaves.com and tickets can be purchased at www.tickets.pepperdinewaves.com