Waves Explode for 14 Runs in Victory

Tuesday, March 23

Phoenix, Ariz.

6:00 p.m. PT

Pepperdine University

8-10

Grand Canyon

9-10-1

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Pepperdine	1	5	0	0	2	5	0	1	0	14	12	0
Grand Canyon	1	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	1	5	11	2

Aharon Modlin

Photo by: Dana Rubin

3/23/2021 9:46:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score Box Score

By: by Athletic Communications

PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Pepperdine baseball team's bats were alive on Tuesday night, as they strung together 11 hits in a 14-5 victory over Grand Canyon.

The Waves (8-10) had two innings in which they scored five runs and were too much for the Lopes (9-10-1) in game one of a two-game set.

BIG WAVES

Senior infielder Aharon Modlin (Irvine, Calif./Woodbridge HS) went 3-for-5 on the day with two doubles and three RBI.
Senior outfielder Reese Alexiades (Manhattan Beach, Calif./Mira Costa HS) went 2-for-5 on the day, with a double and two RBI.
Freshman RHP Dylan Schwartz (Chino, Calif./Ontario Christian HS) threw 3.0 IP and had six strikeouts, both career highs.
Senior infielder Justin Lutes (Las Vegas, Nev./College of Southern Nevada) had two hits and two RBI, including a solo home run in the first inning.

PLAY-BY-PLAY
The Waves got on the board in loud way to open the first inning, as Lutes drove a ball over the wall into left center, putting the Waves up a run. The Lopes answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the first on a sacrifice fly, to tie the game 1-1 through one.

Pepperdine then jumped all over the opposing pitcher in the second, scoring five runs. After Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle, N.Y./Trinity-Pawling HS) walked and stole second base, Modlin doubled down the right field line to give the Waves a 2-1 lead. After Grant Schoen and John Peck (Moorpark, Calif./Moorpark HS) reached base, Charles Masino (Newbury Park, Calif./Oaks Christian HS) snuck a single underneath the glove of the Lopes' diving center fielder to plate Modlin. Wyatt Young (Honolulu, Hawaii/Mid-Pacific Institute) then singled to right to score Schoen and Peck. Lutes kept his hot game going with a double into right center, scoring Young, putting the Waves up 6-1 through one and a half innings. After two walks and a single, the Lopes got a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to cut the lead to four runs. The Waves led 6-2 through two.

In the third, the Lopes loaded the bases yet again, and got another sacrifice fly, to cut the Waves lead to three. Through three, Pepperdine led 6-3.

The Waves got another run in the top of the fifth when, after Johnson reached third thanks to an error and wild pitch, the Lopes' pitcher committed a balk to score Johnson. Bradshaw then scored from second on a throwing error from the shortstop.

With two outs in the sixth, the Waves had Masino and Young on second and third thanks to back-to-back walks, when Johnson poked a ball into left field, scoring both runners and giving the Waves a 10-3 lead. Modlin then doubled into the right center field gap to plate Johnson and Bradshaw. He was then driven in on a single from Peck to give the Waves a 13-3 lead through six innings.

In the eighth inning, the Waves got three straight singles from Bradshaw, Modlin and Peck, the last of which scored Bradshaw from second and gave the Waves a 14-3 lead. The Lopes answered with a run of their own in the eighth, on a sacrifice fly to center field. Going into the final inning of play, the Waves led 14-4. The Lopes got a run in the ninth, but 10 runs were too many to overcome, as the Waves came away with the victory.

UP NEXT
The Waves and Lopes close out their season series on Wednesday, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.