Catcher Andrew Savage hits team’s first grand slam this season, leads Pepperdine to first victory
Pepperdine Waves baseball player Andrew Savage knocked one out of the park in a grand way on March 23.
The junior catcher smashed his first home run of the season and his squad’s first grand slam of their 2024 campaign in the sixth inning of the Waves’ matchup against the Pacific Tigers. Savage’s four-run homer gave Pepperdine a 7-4 lead in the contest that ended up a 13-6 victory at Pepperdine’s Eddy D. Field Stadium.
Savage’s grand slam happened in an inning full of highlights for the Waves, which also included two successful bunts and a handful of singles that had the bases loaded for Pepperdine most of the inning. The squad scored eight runs after Pacific started the inning with three runs.
The Waves took two out of three from the Tigers in the home series.
Pacific won the first game 9-6 on the first day. Pepperdine won the last game 11-4.
Graduate student Brady Renck, an infielder, went 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs in the eighth inning in the opening game of the series. Corwin Hemmingsen, a freshman utility player, went 2-for-5 with an RBI. Redshirt junior Luke Pemberton, an outfielder, went 2-for-4 with one run scored.
Savage wasn’t the only Wave with a hot bat in their first win of the series. He went 3-for-5 with five RBIs and two runs. Renck went 4-for-4 with two doubles, two RBIs, and an inside-the-park home run. Hemmingsen, serving as the designated hitter, went 5-for-5 with a RBI.
Pepperdine scored six runs in the third inning and tallied three runs in the eighth in order to win the third game of the series.
Senior infielder Charles Masino hit his first homer of the season for an RBI, while senior outfielder Conner Bradshaw went 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs. Julian Nunez, a junior infielder, went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.
Pepperdine played at CSU Bakersfield on Tuesday, March 26. The Waves begin a three-game series against Loyola Marymount on Thursday, March 28. On April 2, they host Long Beach State.
The Waves had a 7-17 record at press time. They have beaten Utah, UC Santa Barbara, UC Riverside, CSU Bakersfield, and Tulane this season.