Box Score Tempe, Ariz. – The Pepperdine baseball team got its season started on Friday afternoon, defeating San Diego 5-4 in the first game of the Angels College Classic.
The Toreros (0-1) jumped out to an early lead, but the Waves (1-0) had a three-run fourth inning, capped by an RBI triple from
Billy Cook.
BIG WAVES
- Junior utility Billy Cook (Monument, Colo./Lewis Palmer HS) went 1-for-4 with an RBI triple in the Waves' three-run fourth inning.
- Senior infielder Justin Lutes (Las Vegas, Nev./College of Southern Nevada) had an RBI single in the third inning to get the scoring going for the Waves.
- Senior outfielder Reese Alexiades (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) had an RBI double in the fifth.
- Redshirt-junior RHP Wil Jensen (Murray, Utah/Cottonwood HS) threw 5.0 innings, striking out six and walking just two while getting the win in his 2020 debut.
- Redshirt-sophomore RHP Gunnar Groen (Austin, Texas/Westlake HS) threw 2 innings of shutout relief, striking out two batters without walking anyone.
GAME RECAP
The Toreros got on the board quickly, as a single up the middle scored a runner from second, who advanced after a walk to lead the game off. San Diego led 1-0 after the first inning.
Pepperdine answered in the third inning, when
Aharon Modlin hit a double down the left field line with two outs. Lutes then hit a single in front of the left fielder, scoring Modlin from second. After three innings of play, the Waves and Toreros were tied at 1.
In the fourth, the Toreros got another run when an RBI single brought in a runner from second base. The Waves answered with a run of their own when
Grant Schoen (Clackamas, Ore./Clackamas HS) entered the game as a pinch hitter and walked with the bases loaded. They scored again when
Wyatt Young (Honolulu, Hawaii/Mid Pacific Institute) grounded into a double play with the bases loaded, scoring
Quintt Landis (Westlake Village, Calif./Oaks Christian HS)
. With two outs, Cook mashed a triple over the right fielder's head, scoring
Ryan Johnson (Tempe, Ariz./Seton Catholic HS) from third to give the Waves a 4-2 lead after four complete innings.
The Waves scored again in the fifth after an Alexiades double scored Lutes from first, after Lutes walked. After five innings of play, the Waves led 5-2.
Jensen threw five innings of two-run baseball, striking out six batters and walking just two in his first start since the 2018 season. Groen relieved him, and in his first appearance as a Wave in 2020, threw three shutout innings.
The Toreros scored twice in the ninth on a one-out double that plated two runs. A single up the middle would have scored another run, but Cook threw out the would-be tying run from centerfield, securing the Waves' victory.
UP NEXT
The Waves are back in action tomorrow, taking on Minnesota in the second game of the Angels College Classic.
