LOS ANGELES — Avery Laine gutted out five innings, Travis Friend launched a three-run home run and Jordan Ortiz made a sharp play behind the plate as LMU avoided the series sweep with a 13-6 victory over Pepperdine Sunday at Page Stadium.

The Lions (11-30, 3-12 WCC) plated 13 runs, their most in a game this season, on 12 hits, pounding a rotation of six Pepperdine pitchers in their most complete offensive performance of the year.

Laine earned the win to improve to 2-3, allowing just one earned run on seven hits across five innings. During the fifth, with a runner at second, Ortiz fired down to shortstop Matt Moreno to pick off the baserunner and kill the threat, a sequence that was emblematic of LMU's effort throughout the afternoon.

The Lions struck for three runs in the third, two more in the fourth and four in the fifth before adding three in the sixth. LMU also showed an uncharacteristic willingness to play small ball, dropping three sacrifice bunts, a rarity for this club.

Friend finished 2-for-4 with three RBI, his three-run blast to left field in the sixth his third home run of the week. Ortiz went 2-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored, while Moreno, filling in at shortstop, added a hit for the second straight day. Zion Williams chipped in two RBI and scored twice, and Nate Stiveson reached base twice and scored twice from the nine-hole.

Pepperdine (13-26, 8-7 WCC) got a pair of home runs from Finley Buckner, a three-run pinch-hit shot in the sixth and a two-run blast in the eighth, but could not overcome the deficit. Collin Valentine took the loss to fall to 1-4 after allowing four runs in three innings to open the game.

LMU will return to action Tuesday, hosting UC Riverside at Page Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m.

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