LOS ANGELES, Calif. - The Pepperdine baseball team lost a three-run lead late in the game Thursday to lose at Loyola Marymount 4-5.
 
The Waves (7-19, 2-2) were ahead the majority of the game, thanks in part to solo home runs by senior infielder Charles Masino (Newbury Park, Calif.) and senior outfielder Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle N.Y.). However, a rally by the Lions (12-14, 1-3) in the eighth inning would be enough to secure their first conference win.
 
BIG WAVES
 
Senior infielder Charles Masino (Newbury Park, Calif.) hit his second homer of the year, tallying an RBI.
 
Sophomore RHP Nick Bonn (Laguna Beach, Calif). Went 6.0 innings, recording six strikeouts and only allowing three hits.
 
Senior outfielder Connor Bradshaw (New Rochelle N.Y.) hit the Waves' second home run of the day, batting .500 for the game.
 
RECAP
 
Pepperdine did not hold back on offense, scoring a run in each of the first three innings and taking a 3-0 lead by the end of the third. Bradshaw started things off with a single to second base, advancing graduate infielder Brady Renck (Longmont, Colo.) who was hit by a pitch. Junior infielder Julian Nunez (Encinitas, Calif.) dropped a ball in left field, scoring Renck from second and putting the Waves up 1-0 by the end of the first inning.
 
No time to waste for the Waves as junior catcher Andrew Savage (Woodstock, Ontario, Canada) started the second inning off with a double down the left field line. Renck would be the next Pepperdine batter to put the ball in play, sending the ball to right field and scoring Savage. The Waves were up 2-0 going into the bottom of the second.
 
Doing all the heavy lifting in the third inning, Masino sent a ball sailing over the right field wall, recording his second home run of the year and the Waves' 11th of the season to extend the lead to 3-0 by the end of the third.
 
LMU would get their bats going in the bottom of the fourth with two singles, resulting in a run scored and cutting the Pepperdine lead to two at the end of the inning.
 
Responding immediately with a home run of his own, Bradshaw went the opposite direction and crushed a ball to left field, quickly giving the Waves their three-run lead back as the fifth inning ended with a score of 4-1.
 
Slowly chipping away, the Lions got one back in the fifth with help from a single to shortstop and a sacrificial fly to right field, making it a 4-2 game at the end of the sixth.
 
A quiet seventh inning would lead to an eventful eighth for LMU. With three hits, including a right field double and bases-clearing single, the Lions would take a 5-4 lead.
 
Pepperdine was not able to respond in the top of the ninth, losing the series opener 5-4.
 
UP NEXT
 
The Waves will resume conference play at Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, Calif. for game two of the series tomorrow at 6 p.m.