Aztecs Fall in Extras to Pepperdine, 7-4

SAN DIEGO – In a matchup featuring several plot twists, visiting Pepperdine rewrote the conclusion Sunday, as the Waves handed the San Diego State baseball team a disappointing 7-4 loss in 11 innings at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

Five of Pepperdine’s seven runs were unearned thanks to five errors by the Aztecs (3-5), who suffered their third straight defeat to wrap up the 10th annual Tony Gwynn Legacy series on a sour note.

Trailing 3-1 after seven innings with its lone hit resulting from Finley Bates’ leadoff homer in the bottom of the first, the dormant SDSU offense came to life in the eighth with three runs on four hits to give the host school a quick 4-3 advantage.

Josh Quezada went yard for the first time the season with a towering shot down the right-field line to lead off the inning, while Nevan Noonan greeted Austin Plisinski, the Waves’ third reliever of the contest, with a single to bring in pinch hitter Cody Liscio, who previously reached on an infield hit and advanced on Bates’ soft liner to right following a strikeout.

With the score suddenly tied at 3-3, Plisinski then struck Jake Jackson with a pitch to load the bases before CJ Moran stepped up to the plate and lifted a ball down the right-field line deep into foul territory, where outfielder Brodey Bitove inexplicably caught the ball as all three runners tagged up, including Bates with the go-ahead tally.

Issac Araiza then took the mound for the Scarlet and Black with one out in the ninth after Chris Canavan yielded a single to Cam Conley. The Aztec right-hander induced a flyout to Finley Buckner, but the situation quickly unraveled after two consecutive wild pitches. Following a walk to Justin Rubin, Araiza tried to hold the runner at first, but a subsequent toss was low and hit the side of the bag, as Conley alertly raced home on the error to knot the game at 4-4.

In the bottom of the ninth, Quezada led off with a walk and eventually reached third with two away following a groundout and a wild pitch. However, Matt Queen took the hill at this juncture and quickly recorded a strikeout to send the game into extra innings.

After a scoreless 10th, Pepperdine received a bases-clearing triple from Max Aude in the 11th to account for the winning margin. Earlier, RJ Jimerson reached on a fielding error and moved to second on Buckner’s single through the left side. Buckner was soon erased at second on a fielder’s choice grounder by Rubin, while Max Bernal was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Adam Troy then retired the Scarlet and Black in order to earn the save and preserve the victory for Queen (1-0), who pitched 1 1/3 innings with a trio of strikeouts.

Peyton Rodgers (0-1) was saddled with the hard-luck loss after allowing the three aforementioned unearned runs in the 11th.

Pepperdine (1-7) opened the scoring with a single marker in the first on Aude’s RBI groundout, which plated Rubin and Julian Nunez. Previously, Rubin led off the contest with a double, while Rubin followed with a base hit to right.

After Bates’ blast in the bottom of the frame, the Waves responded in the second with a two-out unearned run after Conley walked and advanced on consecutive SDSU fielding errors.

The score remained unchanged until the seventh when Pepperdine extended its margin to 3-1 after Conley led off with a triple down the left-field line and raced home on Nick Upstill’s sacrifice fly.

Waves starter Dylan Stewart struck out six batters in five innings, while his Aztec counterpart Marko Sipila went 6 1/3 innings, posting four punchouts of his own before yield to Chris Canada (0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 BB).

Conley led all players with three hits and three runs scored, while Bates had two hits in the loss.

San Diego State will have little time to dwell on its defeat with the University of San Diego invading The Mesa for a crosstown clash on Tuesday, Feb. 25, starting at 6 p.m. PT.