Highlighted by a four-run fourth inning and a three-run fifth, the University of La Verne powered past Whittier College 13-2 in the opener of a three-game SCIAC series Friday in Whittier.

La Verne (4-5, 2-2 SCIAC) pounded out 17 hits and scored in six of the nine innings.  The Leopards also collected 8 doubles, including two each from Jon-Michael Hattabaugh, Mike Surina and Kent Longnecker.

The Leos plated a pair of runs in the second on a 2-run single from Sergio Munoz.  In the third, the Leopards scored two runs on five hits, as the Leopards received and RBI single from Albert Ramos followed by an RBI double from Aaron Coopman to take a 4-0 lead.

La Verne broke the game open in the fourth, as doubles from Hattabaugh, Surina and Longnecker produced four runs to extend the lead to 8-0.

After Whittier scored in the bottom of the fourth, the Leopards would add three more runs on three hits in the top of the fifth.  An RBI single from Victor Peinado scored Sergio Munoz, followed by a bases-loaded walk to Mike Surina to score Jason Munoz.  Ramos added a sacrifice fly to score Hattabaugh giving the Leos an 11-1 lead.

The Leopards added single runs in the eighth and ninth innings on RBIs from Mike Belcher and Kevin Ibarra, respectively.

Hattabaugh went 4-5 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI.  Surina was 3-3 with 3 runs scored and 2 RBI.

Pitcher Matt Baudino enjoyed a solid outing, hurling a three-hitter in seven innings of work.  Baudino struck out 6 batters before giving way to David Bradley, who pitched the final two innings.

La Verne concludes its series with Whittier with a doubleheader scheduled for Saturday at Ben Hines Field beginning at 11 am.