MALIBU, Calif. – The Pepperdine baseball team showed out in its home opener on Friday, defeating Akron 12-1 in the process. Billy Cook hit a towering home run in the second inning and finished the day 2-for-4.

The Waves (5-0) never trailed the Zips (0-3) who are in their first season back as a program after going on a four-year hiatus.

BIG WAVES

• Redshirt-junior outfielder Reese Alexiades (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) had a career-high four hits, along with two RBI.
• Senior infielder Justin Lutes (Las Vegas, Nev./College of Southern Nevada) went 2-for-4 including a 2-RBI double in the eighth inning.
• Junior utility Billy Cook (Monument, Colo./Lewis Palmer HS) had two hits, including a 389-foot two-run home run in the second inning. He had three RBI on the day.
• Redshirt-Junior RHP Wil Jensen (Murray, Utah/Cottonwood HS) had a perfect game through four innings, and finished with a final line of 7 IP, 4 H, 8 K, 1 BB, 1 R. The only run he gave up was unearned.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Waves burst out the starting gates, getting three runs in the first inning. Alexiades had a two-RBI double off the left-center field wall, scoring both Lutes and Aharon Modlin (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS). Joe Caparis (Palos Verdes Estates, Calif./Palos Verdes HS) then singled Alexiades in to give the Waves a 3-0 lead after one.

In the second, Wyatt Young (Honolulu, Hawaii/Mid Pacific Institute) got on via a walk before Cook launched a home run. According to Trackman, the ball came off the bat at 108 MPH and a 36-degree launch angle, giving the junior a 389-foot home run which gave the Waves a 5-0 lead after two.

Akron got its only run in the top of the fifth. An error and a single put runners on first and second before a double-play gave the Zips a runner on third with two outs. A single down the right-field line scored the unearned run from third, and cut the Waves' lead to 5-1.

After Quintt Landis (Westlake Village, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) reached on an error in the bottom of the sixth, David LeBioda (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Aliso Niguel HS) knocked a single into right. Ryan Johnson (Tempe, Ariz./Seton Catholic HS) then doubled down the left-field line, scoring both Landis and LeBioda to put the Waves ahead 7-1. Johnson was then knocked in by a Billy Cook single. The Waves took an 8-1 lead into the seventh inning.

Jensen's day was done after seven innings, and Nathan Diamond (Oak Park, Ill./Oak and River Forest HS) came in for a 1-2-3 seventh.

The Waves loaded the bases in the bottom of the eighth after two walks, a balk and a hit-by-pitch. Modlin then doubled down the left-field line to score Johnson and Young. Lutes then hit a two-RBI double into right, scoring Cook and Modlin to give the Waves the 12-1 lead they would protect in the ninth as Tyler Murrah (Dallas, Texas/Jesuit College Prep) made his first collegiate appearance after red-shirting last year due to Tommy John surgery.

NOTABLES

• Jensen retired the first 12 batters he faced and lowered his season ERA to 1.50.
• Modlin and Lutes are battling it out for the best batting average on the team after five games, with Modlin having the slight advantage. He is hitting .476 and Lutes is hitting .474. Alexiades is right behind them hitting .450.

UP NEXT
The Waves and Zips are back at it on Saturday, with first pitch scheduled for 1 o'clock.