LA VERNE, CA — The No. 8 University of La Verne baseball team continued its dominant start to the season, sweeping Friday's doubleheader against Franklin & Marshall at Ben Hines Field. The Leopards secured a 5-2 victory in the opener before breaking out offensively in a 10-4 win in game two.

Game One: La Verne 5, Franklin & Marshall 2

The Leopards relied on strong pitching and timely hitting to take game one. Senior Matthew Desmarets delivered an outstanding performance, striking out 10 batters over 6.1 innings, allowing just two hits and two runs to earn his fourth win of the season.

La Verne broke the scoreless tie in the fourth inning when Nate Perry plated a run with a single through the right side, followed by an RBI groundout from Aidan Salcedo to give the Leopards a 2-0 lead. They added two more in the fifth as Noah Garcia delivered a two-run single to right center to extend the advantage to 4-0.

Franklin & Marshall responded with two runs in the seventh, but Justin Ries came in to close out the game with 2.2 scoreless innings, securing his second save of the season as La Verne sealed the 5-2 victory.

Game Two: La Verne 10, Franklin & Marshall 4

The second game of the doubleheader featured a back-and-forth battle before La Verne pulled away in the later innings.

Franklin & Marshall jumped out to a 2-1 lead after four innings, but the Leopards took control in the fifth. Matt Rice led off with a double to left, and Ryan Vosika reached on a bunt single to put runners on the corners. A passed ball allowed Vosika to advance to second and Rice to score, tying the game at 2-2. Moments later, Noah Garcia lifted a sacrifice fly to left field, bringing in Vosika to give La Verne a 3-2 lead.

The Leopards broke the game open in the seventh when Jake Ledford delivered a clutch bases-clearing double to left center, pushing the lead to 7-2. Franklin & Marshall fought back with two runs in the eighth, but La Verne answered with three more runs in the bottom half, highlighted by Logan Reese's two-RBI single, sealing the 10-4 win.

On the mound, Ethan Galindo earned the win, tossing six strong innings while allowing two runs on seven hits. Austin Klopfenstein finished the game with three innings of relief to pick up the save.

Up Next

With the doubleheader sweep, La Verne improves to 14-1 on the season. The Leopards will conclude the series against Franklin & Marshall on Saturday, March 15, with first pitch set for 9:00 AM PST.