There was no California love for Pepperdine on Thursday night.The Waves (3-5) traveled about 1,845 miles to fall to the No. 2 LSU baseball team, 8-1, in the first of two games between the teams at Alex Box Stadium this weekend.LSU coach Paul Mainieri said the win against Pepperdine sophomore pitcher Cole Cook (0-2), who surrendered four runs in seven innings, was tremendous for the Tigers.”That pitcher we faced tonight was seriously one of the best pitchers in the country,” Mainieri said. “He was throwing 94 miles per hour tonight, and he’s got an outstanding splitter.”LSU (8-0) opened the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore shortstop Austin Nola, who was stealing on the play, scored from first base on a single by junior catcher Micah Gibbs, giving LSU a 1-0 lead.”The hit and runs and our    bunting, we practice that every day,” Gibbs said. “The way we executed them today was perfect.”Pepperdine senior first baseman Ryan Heroy knotted up the game at 1-1 with his first home run of the season. Heroy, the only Wave in the starting lineup without an RBI prior to Thursday’s matchup, was hitting .095 on the season.The home run was LSU sophomore pitcher Chris Matulis’ (2-0) first run surrendered of     the season.The Tigers regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning. Junior center fielder Leon Landry hit a sacrifice fly to left-center field to bring in Gibbs. Senior designated hitter Matt Gaudet ripped an RBI single to increase the lead to 3-1 later in the inning.”I’m taking my hacks and swinging at good pitches,” Gaudet said. “I’m seeing it well.”Pepperdine freshman second baseman Joe Sever stole second and third base after reaching on an error in the fifth inning. But after walking a batter, Matulis got sophomore left fielder Tyler Brubaker to ground out to end the inning.The Tigers tacked on another run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Sophomore left fielder Trey Watkins tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly to center field by Nola.It looked like a wave was ready to touch down when Pepperdine loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth inning. But LSU junior pitcher Daniel Bradshaw retired the next three batters to end the threat.”Bradshaw really grew up a lot tonight,” Mainieri said. “He showed that he’s a guy we can count on.”The Tigers put the game away, 8-1, with a four-run eighth inning, including a two-RBI single from Gaudet.Matulis gave up one run in five innings, and Bradshaw pitched three scoreless innings.LSU plays its second game against Pepperdine on Saturday at 7 p.m. The Tigers play Brown (0-0) tonight at 7 p.m. and Sunday at noon to wrap up the weekend series.Junior pitcher Austin Ross (1-0) is scheduled to be on the mound tonight against Brown.”Last year, Brown had an excellent team, and they won the Ivy League,” Mainieri said. “They have all of that pitching back, and they’ve got a couple of pretty good hitters back.”Mainieri said Brown and all Ivy League teams have intelligent athletes who play with pride.”They really like to represent their universities, and they play so hard,” he said.____Contact Rowan Kavner at [email protected]