LA VERNE, CA — The No. 9 University of La Verne baseball team unleashed their bats and completed a sweep of the Chapman University Panthers.
Season Impact
The Leopards improved 21-9-1 and 14-4 in the SCIAC with the win. La Verne takes a one-game lead on Pomona-Pitzer for first place in the SCIAC. The Sagehens own a 13-5 SCIAC record followed by Cal Lutheran (13-8), Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (11-7), Chapman (10-8), and Whittier (10-8).
La Verne has six conference games remaining.
Game One: La Verne 10, Chapman 7
The Leopards jumped out to an 8-4 third-inning lead and never looked back in Saturday's opener.
After a defensive battle on Friday, both squads had their offensives humming to the tune of 23 combined hits.
Noah Garcia led the Leopards with four RBIs, two hits, and two runs. Gerald Terry picked up the win on the mound, striking out six in five innings of work to improve to 7-2.
After the Panthers cut La Verne's lead to 9-7 in the sixth, Matthew DesMarets stepped onto the mound and shut down any hope of a Panthers' comeback. In two innings of relief, he struck out six and allowed just one hit.
Austin Klopfenstein stepped in for the final out, struck out one, and earned his second save of the season.
Jason Givens added a team-high three hits with a run. Friday's hero Logan Reese scored four times, drew three walks, and had one hit.
La Verne jumped on the Panthers in the second inning, scoring three runs highlighted by a Nolan Anguiano RBI double.
The Leopards poured on five more runs in the third, capped by an RBI bunt single from Jared Benash.
Game Two: La Verne 7, Chapman 5
La Verne took the lead in the fifth and added insurance runs in the seventh and eighth to complete the sweep.
Benny Vogel picked up the win, pitching an inning of relief. DesMarets pitched the final two innings and struck out two to earn his first save of the season.
Ryan Vosika went 2-2 with two RBIs and was hit by two pitches. The shortstop tied the game 3-3 in the fifth when he singled in Anguiano. Anthony Salcedo stepped up next and gave La Verne the lead when he hit a sacrifice fly to score Malachi Francois. Salcedo finished with two RBIs.
Jason Givens, Matthew Diaz, and Aiden Salcedo each drove in a run.
Next Game
The Leopards take a break from SCIAC play and head to Santa Clarita to play The Master's University on Wednesday, April 24 at 3 p.m.