For Openers, Waves Close In on Home-Field Advantage

Something had to give when Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount met Friday in the opener of a three-game West Coast Conference baseball series at Pepperdine.

Loyola won five of six previous meetings against Pepperdine while the Waves were riding a nine-game conference winning streak.

Thanks to redshirt freshman Duke Sardinha, Pepperdine extended its streak and moved to within a game of securing home-field advantage should the teams meet for the conference title in May.

Sardinha hit a two-run home run to left field in the eighth inning to lift Pepperdine to a 5-4 victory in the first meeting of the season between the conference’s division leaders.

Sardinha went two for four, including a run-scoring single that tied the score, 2-2, in the first inning, and had three runs batted in.

“This was a huge game for us because they’ve kind of had that mental edge over us the last few years,” Sardinha said. “We feel we have to win this series and winning [Friday] takes a little bit of the pressure off [today]. But it’s not over yet.”

Daniel Haren (5-3), a 6-4 sophomore right-hander, pitched his third complete game of the season for Pepperdine (22-14, 11-1 in WCC play), scattering nine hits.

Jeff Walker gave Loyola (21-13, 9-4) a 2-0 lead with a home run in the first inning.

Pepperdine answered in the bottom of the inning when Woody Cliffords singled, stole second, advanced to third on an errant pick-off throw and scored on a sacrifice fly by Tony Garcia.

Jeremy Coronado followed with a single and Duke Sardinha tied the score with a single.

Coronado’s run-scoring single gave the Waves a 3-2 lead in the fifth, but the Lions regained the lead when Scott Walter hit a two-run homer in the sixth.

Pepperdine leads the West Division by five games over Portland and San Diego while Loyola Marymount is 1 1/2 games ahead of Gonzaga in the Coast Division.