MALIBU, Calif. - UC Riverside battled Pepperdine to eleven innings before falling short, 5-4, in an extra-innings thriller at Eddy D. Field Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

- The Highlanders sprung to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning. With two outs, Dominic Martinez picked up his first RBI of the day, singling to center field to send Zachary Chamizo home for the first run of the game. 

- Two more UCR runs crossed the plate off of a Nick Poss single to center field before Pepperdine could escape the inning.

- The Waves answered back in the bottom of the second with three runs of their own before defense took over for UCR in a four and a half inning scoring drought for the Waves.

- Pepperdine pulled ahead in the bottom of the sixth with a single run.

- Martinez came up clutch in the top of the eighth with a sacrifice fly to tie the series opener at four apiece. 

- Tremendous pitching took the game to extra frames, but the Waves were able to overcome UCR defense and score the walk off win in the bottom of the 11th.

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS 

- The Highlander bullpen put up eight scoreless innings against Pepperdine across four UC Riverside arms. Julian Orozco threw 5.2 innings with seven runs on four hits and four strikeouts while Alfredo Capacete II kept the Highlanders in the game through extras, throwing 3.0 innings and letting up just one hit in ten batters faced. 

- Offensively, Martinez went two for four with one run and two RBIs. Chamizo went two for five on Friday, scoring two Highlander runs off of Martinez' RBI. 

UP NEXT 

- UC Riverside continues the weekend series against Pepperdine on March 3 with a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. from The Riverside Sports Complex on ESPN+.