MALIBU, Calif. --- Ryan Hoogerwerf tied the game with a solo home run in the fourth inning and Tate Budnick won it when he left the yard with a homer in the top of the 10th as the Pilots opened their final West Coast Conference series with a thrilling 2-1 win over the first-place Pepperdine Waves on Friday afternoon. Reliever Connor Knutson had another solid outing for the Pilots, this time tossing 3.0 scoreless innings to collect the win at Eddy D. Field Stadium.
Knutson (4-2) combined with starter Eli Morse and reliever Christian Peters to hold the Waves (28-21, 16-9 WCC) to just the one run on seven hits.