The University of La Verne baseball team earned a three-game sweep over Cal Lutheran after topping the Kingsmen in the series finale 10-7 in SCIAC action Monday afternoon in Thousand Oaks.
Joe Buckley smacked a 2-run home run in the top of the first inning off Kingsmen pitcher John LaMoure to give the Leopards an early lead.
Both La Verne and Cal Lutheran tallied a run in the third, fifth and sixth innings putting the Leos up 5-3.
The Leopards broke the game open with four runs in the seventh inning. Jason Munoz led off the inning with a single. The bases were loaded after Donovan Petta walked and Buckley singled through the right side. Sergio Munoz walked to score the first run of the inning. Cody Hazel reached on a fielder's choice to score the second run and Ross Hebert walked to score the third. The last run of the inning came from a sacrifice fly by George Hanna.
La Verne scored their final run in the top of the eighth, off an RBI single by Buckley to right field to take a 10-3 lead.
The Kingsmen scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth, collecting two hits while also benefiting from a Leopard error to cut their deficit down to four. CLU added a run in the ninth but got no closer as the Leopards closed out with the victory.
Leopard starter Nathan Rollon went 5.2 innings, allowing 3 runs on 6 hits to improve to 4-1 on the season. Brian Tuttle, Anthony Cerafice and Sean Fasig all spent time on the mound to contribute to the victory.
Buckley went 3-5 at the plate with 4 RBI and a homer, while J. Munoz was 3-3.
La Verne improves to 16-10 on the year and 11-4 in the SCIAC, moving into second place in the conference standings. Cal Lutheran drops to 15-10 overall and 9-5 in conference play.
The Leopards continue SCIAC action next weekend as it opens a three-game set with Caltech Friday at Ben Hines Field. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 pm.