PHOENIX – Andrew Vaughn connected for his first homer of the year to provide an early spark, but the Cal baseball team fell 7-5 to Pepperdine on Saturday in a back-and-forth game of the Angels College Classic.

The Bears trailed by a run in the top of the seventh when Max Flower delivered a game-tying  two-out single to knot it 5-5.

The Waves then scored twice in the bottom of the eighth and held on for the victory at Grand Canyon University.

The Bears (0-2) put two runners aboard in the ninth but couldn't break through. They now continue play in the Classic with a 10 a.m. (PT) game Sunday against Northwestern on Field 3 of the Tempe Diablo Stadium complex.

Both teams jumped on the scoreboard early.

Vaughn, who batted leadoff in Friday's season opener, swapped batting order spots with Darren Baker and batted second Saturday. He got an 0-1 pitch from Easton Lucas in the top of the first and drove it over the right field wall for an opposite-field two-run shot.

It was the first hit, along with the first homer, of the young season for Vaughn, who tied Xavier Nady's single-season school record last season with 23 homers.

The Waves answered back with two runs in the bottom of the first off Cal lefty Jack Wolger, though just one of those was earned.

With junior right-hander Jared Horn likely to miss several weeks after undergoing an appendectomy Friday, the Cal coaching staff is having to get creative with its starting pitching early in the season.

Each of the first two games has featured an "opener," or a reliever who starts the game but is only slated for a short outing as the Bears try to take advantage of the best pitching matchups possible in the early innings.

Wolger, a redshirt sophomore who missed last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery, got the call for one inning Saturday. He then gave way to junior right-hander Rogelio Reyes, who delivered an excellent four innings, giving up just one unearned run with eight strikeouts.

Cal led 4-3 heading to the bottom of the sixth, when Pepperdine (2-0) jumped ahead with two runs, getting RBI singles from Duncan McKinnon and Wyatt Young.
Flower's run-scoring single in the seventh tied it before the Waves took the lead for good in the eighth on RBI hits from Young and Quincy McAfee.

Korey Lee jumpstarted Cal's two-run rally in the fourth with a leadoff double, and Cameron Eden and Grant Holman each drove in runs  with singles.
Flower, Connor Mack and John Lagattuta each turned in terrific catches around the outfield for the Bears throughout the night.