Pepperdine Squanders Momentum in Loss to UCSB

Pepperdine’s baseball team let the momentum slip away like a balloon let loose by a child.

Playing at home Tuesday after an encouraging trip to Texas, the Waves faced their only unranked opponent over a 12-game stretch.

But UC Santa Barbara won the nonconference game, 6-3, by scoring three runs in the seventh inning to tie the score, and three more in the ninth.

Any momentum Pepperdine (4-5) built by winning two of three games from Texas lasted precisely six innings.

Pepperdine freshman right-hander Andrew Shibilo faced the minimum number of batters and the Waves held a 3-0 lead before Ryan Kritscher led off the seventh with a single.

Shibilo failed to cover first on a slow roller hit by Brooks Morris, and Kritscher scored on a throwing error by third baseman Ruben Gamboa. David Willis followed with the Gauchos’ first hard-hit ball of the game--a double off the left-field wall--to drive in two runs and tie the score.

UCSB (7-1) scored three runs in the ninth off of relief pitchers Chime Serra (0-1) and Eric Brubaker on two hits, a walk, an error and a sacrifice fly.

Despite his team’s sloppy play, Pepperdine Coach Pat Harrison found fault with only one person: himself.

“Today was my loss, I coached the worst game ever,” he said. “It wasn’t the boys’ fault. I did a lousy job platooning players and left myself in a bad situation. I set a tone that was horrible.”

The Waves took a 2-0 lead on a home run in the second inning by catcher Dennis Twombley, his first of the season. Pedro Loza scored in the fifth on a single by Rob Reid.

Shibilo allowed four hits and a walk in eight innings, striking out five.