CLAREMONT, Calif. – Thanks to late-game heroics by Nolan Henley in Game 1 and an eight-RBI effort from Joe Winterburn in the second game, the University of La Verne baseball team completed the sweep of Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday at the Alumni Field, winning, 9-5 and 14-9, in Games 1 and 2, respectively.

With the game tied at 5-5 with two outs in the bottom of the 9^th, Pomona-Pitzer's E.J. Lopez launched a liner to deep center that looked certain to give the Sagehens a walkoff victory in Game 1.

But La Verne center fielder Nolan Henley turned around, tracked the ball all the way and made a huge game-saving diving overhead catch crashing into the ground that would have made Willie Mays proud.

Henley then hit a two-RBI double down the left field line that gave the Leopards a three-run cushion in the top of the 10^th.

The Leopards added one more on an error by the shortstop Tanner Nishioka and Mark Jebbia kept the Sagehens at bay in the bottom of the 10^th to preserve the victory.

After trailing all game, La Verne scored four in the 9^th to grab the lead. Ashton Edior legged out an infield single with bases loaded and Michael Reyes followed with a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game at 3-3. The Leopards finally took the lead when Jebbia scored on an error and George Hanna stretched the lead to 5-3 with an RBI single up the middle.

But Pomona-Pitzer responded in the bottom of the 9^th. The Sagehens loaded the bases and Simon Rosenbaum came through with a clutch two-out single to plate Coleman Lukas and Nishioka to force extra innings.

Jebbia pitched the last 1.1 innings to earn his fifth victory of the season on the mound.

Kevin Knight got the start for La Verne and turned in a quality start, going 6.2 innings and giving up three runs.

Lane Miles was stellar on the mound for Pomona-Pitzer. Miles scattered six hits and gave up just one run in eight innings pitched.

Joe Winterburn single-handedly matched the Sagehens' offensive production as a team in Game 2.

The senior catcher hit a three-run bomb in the 3^rd inning to give the Leopards a 5-2 lead and after Pomona-Pitzer took the lead back in their half of the 3^rd, he had a groundout RBI that scored Henly in the 4^th.

With La Verne holding onto a slim 10-9 lead in the 7^th, Winterburn singled up the middle to bring home two and give the Leopards a breathing room.

Then in the 9^th, he lined another single to right score two more to all but seal the win for the Leopards.

Winterburn finished the game 3-for-5 with eight RBIs and two runs scored.

Simon Rosenbaum was no slouch on the other side for the Sagehens. Rosenbaum four hits -- including two homeruns -- in the game and drove in seven.

Every pitcher who made an appearance in the game allowed at least one run, but Jebbia had the best day, pitching the last six innings to close the game out.

With the wins, La Verne improves to 13-12 overall and 9-5 in SCIAC play. Pomona-Pitzer falls to 9-17 and 5-13.

La Verne returns to action next weekend against Whittier, who is tied for 1^st in the SCIAC standings.