MALIBU, Calif. --- Portland's Jason Rosen had a pair of hits and the Pilots were efficient on the mound, but the Pepperdine Waves opened the three-game West Coast Conference series with a 4-0 win on Friday afternoon at Eddy D. Field Stadium. The Waves claimed a slim 9-7 edge in hits en route to the victory.

Brady Kerr had another double for the Pilots, his third in the last two games. It came with no outs and the Pilots trailing 3-0 in the top of the sixth inning. After a strikeout, Kerr tried to score from second on a Grant Taylor single up the middle. But the relay throw was in time to get Kerr at the plate for the second out of the frame. Michael Forgione then flied out to right field to end the inning.

That was perhaps the best scoring chance for Portland (14-23, 1-12 WCC), while the Waves (19-17, 9-7 WCC) scored one run in the bottom of the second, two more in the third and another in the seventh inning.

The four-run cushion proved to be enough for Pepperdine starter A.J. Puckett, who entered the game as the league leader in ERA (1.16), opponents batting average (.181) and innings pitched (62.0). The senior right-hander went the distance on the hill, fanning 12 without issuing a walk.

Portland's Jordan Horak, Kevin Baker and Cole Doherty seemingly did enough to keep the Pilots in the game. The starter Horak (1-5) takes the loss after surrendering those three early runs. He scattered seven hits in 5.0 innings, while fanning two.

Baker struck out three in 1.2 innings and yielded the fourth Pepperdine run. Doherty was flawless in 1.1 innings, registering one K while not allowing a batter to reach base.

Brad Anderson, Manny Jefferson, and Chase Lambert each had an RBI for the Waves, and the fourth run scored on a Portland double play.

The second game of this league set is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday afternoon.