March 8, 2002

Box Score

MALIBU, Calif. - Kyle Rajsich singled home Kemp Quackenbush with two outs in the top of the eighth inning to lift Gonzaga (7-7, 1-0 WCC) to a 4-3 win over Pepperdine (10-12, 0-1 WCC) on Friday afternoon in the West Coast Conference opener at Eddy D. Field Stadium.

Rock Mills put Pepperdine on the board as his single to right scored Ty Harper in the bottom of the first. Chris Kelly added a solo homerun in the third to give Pepperdine a 2-0 advantage against Gonzaga starter Ed Clelland.

Gonzaga used the long ball to take the lead in the top of the fourth as Kevin Richardson's two-run homerun to left gave the Bulldogs a 3-2 lead. A Quackenbush single to right scored Jeff Culpepper for the GU's first run of the inning.

The Waves evened the game at 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth as Duke Sardinha scored from third on an infield error that would have ended the inning. Clelland would pitch into the seventh for the Zags but was lifted for relief pitcher Greg Brooks (3-1) after placing runners on second on third. Brooks pitched one inning to pick up the win, while Eric Everson would pitch 1.1 innings to pick up his first save of the season. For Everson it was his sixth career save and moved him into tie for second on Bulldogs career saves list. Jacob Barrack (2-1) was saddled with loss in two innings of relief work.

Quackenbush, Culpepper and Eric Rodland each finished with two hits to lead the Bulldogs. Kelly was the top Waves hitter going 3-for-4. The teams will resume the WCC series with 1 p.m. games on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.