University of La Verne baseball coach Scott Winterburn achieved a milestone in notching his 300th win at the helm of the Leopard program as his squad topped Occidental College on the back end of a doubleheader Saturday in Los Angeles.

Winterburn's 300th victory with the Leopards did not come easy as the squad managed to put together a ninth inning comeback to post a 6-5 second game win following an extra-inning 4-3 defeat in the opener.

In the first game, the Leopards jumped ahead 1-0 in the first inning.  However, the La Verne offense produced just two hits before a ninth inning rally that would ultimately fall short.  Occidental would hold onto their 3-1 lead after bringing in one in the sixth and a pair in the seventh.  The lead would shrink in the ninth as La Verne forced extra innings by stringing together a trio of singles and a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 3-3. 

Occidental would earn the walk-off victory after tallying three singles and scoring on a Leopard error in the bottom of the 11th. 

Leopard starting Pitcher Sean Beckman went 7.2 innings giving up three runs, two of which were earned.  Brett Early was the losing pitcher on record going 2.1 innings giving up one run on four hits. 

The Leopards would ultimately pull through in the second game with a five-run ninth inning en route to victory

The La Verne bats were relatively silent registering just five hits before coming alive in the ninth.  Occidental would quickly put up five runs in the first four frames highlighted by a three-run second but would trade roles with La Verne and give up a four run cushion of their own.  La Verne began chipping away at the five run deficit in the seventh when Stewart brought in Hanna on a single to center field.

The ninth inning rally was ignited by Pedro Espinoza who doubled down the right field line to bring in Woody Reyes.  Stewart would then score Hanna on a groundball to the shortstop.  The final blow would come from Tim Ralston whose double down the right field line would clear the bases scoring Nolan Henley, pinch-runner Matt Ashby, and Espinoza. 

Christian Grossi would hold the Tigers at bay to seal the victory.  Gross pitched 5.2 innings in relief and was rewarded the victory after allowing no runs and just four hits.  Leopard starting Phil Schick was tagged for six runs, five earned in just 3.1 innings of work.

Winterburn, who has guided the Leopard program since 2001, is the second-winningest coach in program history behind Ben Hines (1960-80), who posted 591 victories in his 21 seasons.  During his tenure at La Verne, Winterburn has captured four conference titles including 2004, 2005, 2008 and 2012.

The Leopards (19-11, 13-8 SCIAC) are currently in a fourth place tie in the conference standings with Occidental.  La Verne steps out of conference to face off against No. 2  ranked Linfield at Mazmanian Field Sunday at 1:00 pm.