May 7, 2008
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - Pepperdine (29-16) broke a 4-4 tie in the bottom of the ninth inning to win 5-4 over UC Santa Barbara (30-17) Wednesday afternoon at Eddy D. Field Stadium. With the bases loaded and one out, reliever Michael Martin hit Wave second baseman Denny Duron with a pitch, forcing home the game-winning run in the form of pinch runner Matthew Frazee.
The Waves jumped out to a three-run lead in the bottom of the first on four hits. Ryan Heroy singled home Matt Aidem, as Eric Thames also scrambled around third to score when Gaucho right fielder Brian Gump couldn't come up with the ball cleanly. Heroy's single put the Waves ahead, 2-0. Two batters later, Nate Simon singled home Trent Diedrich, giving the Waves an early 3-0 advantage.
UCSB put up two runs in the top of the fourth on an RBI-double from left fielder Mike Zuanich, and an RBI-single from shortstop Shane Carlson. The Gauchos had an opportunity for more runs in the frame, but Wave reliever Tyler Hess induced Gump to fly out to left field, stranding three Gaucho runners on the base paths.
Both squads scored single runs in the fifth, before UCSB tied the game up in the top of the seventh, 4-4.
Chris Fox started off the seventh with a walk, and stole second on the next at-bat. With two-out and Fox on third, Carlson stroked a double into deep left field, scoring Fox. Carlson's second RBI on the day, tied the game at four all.
It wasn't until the bottom of the ninth that the Waves mounted a rally. Heroy led off the inning with an infield single to third base. Frazee pinch-ran for Heroy, and was advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Simon. After Chase d'Arnaud was intentionally walked, Martin walked Donald Brown to load the bases. That's when an errant pitch from Martin hit Duron for the game-winning run.
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Carlson led offensively for the Gauchos, coming off a 5-for-5 performance on Saturday, to go 3-for-4 with two RBI. Zuanich and Patrick Rose added RBIs as well, in respective one-hit and two-hit performances.
Pepperdine closer Nick Gaudi (4-1) earned the win, pitching 2.1 innings of scoreless relief.
Wednesday's win gave Pepperdine a 3-1 record over UCSB this season.
UCSB resumes play on Friday, May 9 as they square off against Big West Conference rival, and third place mate, Long Beach State. Friday's game one of the three-game set kicks off at 6:30 p.m.
