THOUSAND OAKS, CA — The University of La Verne baseball team claimed a commanding doubleheader sweep of the Cal Lutheran Kingsmen on Saturday, securing the series win by scores of 10-6 and 13-5.

Game one: La Verne 10, Cal Lutheran 6

Lucas Zayac, Aidan Salcedo, Nathan Perry, and Jake Ledford all collected two hits, while Ledford and Perry both brought in two runs. Ryan Vosika also collected two RBIs. Justin Ries tossed three perfect innings, striking out three batters and picking up his third win of the season.

Perry sparked a late-inning surge for the Leopards in game one, hitting a solo home run over the left field fence to make the score 6-4 in the eighth inning. 

In La Verne's last at-bats and down two runs in the ninth, Christian Takahashi and Vosika both walked with the bases loaded to tie the game at 6-6. Isaiah Figueroa followed with a sacrifice fly to bring in Jake Ledford and and Salcedo, Perry and Zayac knocked down back to back to back singles to score three more runs and put the score at 10-6. Nico Hamilton went 1-2-3 at the bottom of the ninth to secure the win. 
 
Game Two: La Verne 13, Cal Lutheran 5

Coming hot fresh off his seven-inning no-hitter against Caltech last week, Jack Holguin was given the ball to start game two. The freshman pitched five innings, only allowing three runs off five hits and striking out another five batters, putting his season total at 35. 

La Verne had another solid offensive game in the finale of the series. Perry, Takahashi, and Alek Bautista led the Leopards with two hits each, while Perry picked up another three RBIs. RJ Libby scored four times and walked three times.

Heading to the top of the fourth inning, the Kingsmen were leading 2-1, but not for long. La Verne exploded for seven runs off five hits, batting around. The rally was highlighted by four singles and Perry's two-RBI double.

The Leopards struck for two more in the top of the fifth when speed Vosika scored on a wild pitch from third base, and RJ Libby was brought in on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Aidan Salcedo.

The offense scored three more insurance runs throughout the later innings, and Hamilton closed out his second game of the day to lead the Leopards to a 13-5 victory.

Series Impact

With the wins, the Leopards move into a three-way tie for third place in the SCIAC with a 9-6 conference record. The Leopards are even with the Kingsmen and Pomona-Pitzer and trail Claremont-Mudd-Scripps and Redlands, both 12-6 in the SCIAC.

Next Series

With the series win, La Verne improves to 17-12-1 overall and 9-6 in SCIAC play. The Leopards return to action next Friday at 3 p.m. at Ben Hines Field, where they will host the Occidental College Tigers.