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MALIBU, Calif.—Pepperdine catcher Nate Johnson’s sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth inning snapped a 3-3 tie and propelled the nationally-ranked Waves to a 4-3 victory over the visiting University of Evansville baseball team on Thursday at Eddy D. Field Stadium in Malibu, California.

Johnson finished the day driving in three of #10 Pepperdine’s four runs on the afternoon, as his two-run home run in the third inning keyed a three-run frame for the Waves that helped them rally from an early 2-0 deficit. After Evansville tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth inning on a double by junior first baseman Andy Pascoe and an RBI double by sophomore outfielder Nate Smith, the two bullpens would battle back and forth until the Waves finally broke through in the ninth.

Junior shortstop Denny Duron would begin the bottom of the ninth inning with a single off of UE reliever Corey Davisson (0-1). After a sacrifice bunt moved Duron into scoring position, UE turned to reliever Tom Heithoff, who walked the first batter he faced in a seven-pitch battle. Duron then would steal third base to put runners on the corners, before Johnson delivered a sacrifice fly to center field to provide the 4-3 walk-off victory.

“We were right there against one of the top teams in the country, but we could just not get over that hump,” said UE head coach Wes Carroll. “Our pitching and our defense were outstanding today, and we out-hit Pepperdine, 10-5, but we could just not get over the hump and come through with the big play to win the game. We still need to learn how to do that, because we showed what kind of baseball we are capable of playing today.”

Evansville jumped to an early 2-0 lead thanks to lead-off man Jim Viscomi, who singled and scored in the first inning and then launched his second home run of the season, a solo shot, in the third inning. Pepperdine would answer back with a pair of home runs in the bottom of the third inning, including a two-run shot by Johson, to grab a 3-2 lead.

UE would put runners in scoring position in both the fourth and fifth innings, but came away empty offensively until the pair of doubles by Pascoe and Smith in the sixth tied the game at 3-3. Evansville would threaten to take the lead in the eighth inning, as sophomore third baseman Cody Fick led off the frame with a double, but he was subsequently picked off prior to a single to left by Pascoe.

Pascoe led the way offensively for UE, going a perfect 4-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Viscomi and Smith also added two hits each for UE, with Viscomi scoring two of UE’s three runs on the afternoon. Outfielder Brian Humphries went 2-for-4 with a solo home run to lead Pepperdine, while Johnson added three RBI out of the ninth spot in the Waves’ lineup.

The loss overshadows strong performances on the mound by UE seniors John Foley and #J.R. Carbonell#, who combined to hold Pepperdine to just three third-inning runs on four base hits in eight combined innings of work.