LA VERNE – La Verne got out to a 4-0 lead in the first game of its doubleheader against No. 10/17 Cal Lutheran on Saturday at the Ben Hines Field and looked to be on its way to picking up a crucial game in the SCIAC standings.

But things unraveled in the eighth inning as the Kingsmen exploded for seven runs and the University of La Verne baseball team lost, 7-4, in Game 1.

Cal Lutheran used another big late inning in Game 2 to win, 10-3, and complete the series sweep.

La Verne drops to sixth place in the SCIAC standings at 11-12, but is still in the hunt for the fourth and final spot in the SCIAC Postseason Tournament with the round robin play still left. The seeding for the round robin portion is yet to be determined, as the Leopards still have to make up a rained out home game against Caltech.

La Verne starter Mark Jebbia was cruising along in Game 1, having shut out the Kingsmen through seven innings while giving up only hits and striking out 10.

But the junior gave up a lead off single to Spencer DuBois, hit Sinjin Todd with a pitch and walked DellaValle to start the eighth. Jake Petersen then singled to put the Kingsmen on the board and La Verne's ace reliever Brett Early came on to put out the fire

But Early could not stem the momentum, either. Todd scored on a catcher's interference, Davey Casciola pushed on in with a walk, and Gabriel Gunter singled to center to give Cal Lutheran its first lead of the game at 5-4. Nico Filice then hit a sacrifice fly and DuBois emptied the bases with a triple to right center for the final tally of the game.

La Verne took a 4-0 lead on Nolan Henley's two-RBI single in the second, a throwing error by Cal Lutheran shortstop Nicho DellaValle and a Ben White's lead off opposite field home run in the bottom of the fifth.

White was 3-for-5 and Josh Surdo went 2-for-4.

Diego Cortez struck out three in perfect 1.1 innings of relief.

Game 2 was a similar story.

Holding a slim 3-1 lead heading into the seventh, the Kingsmen broke open the game with a five-run inning. Abushahla hit a bases-loaded single to plate two, Petersen scored on a fielder's choice and Gunter cleared the bases with a double to give the Kingsmen a commanding 8-1 lead.

Cal Lutheran tacked on two more in the ninth and the Leopards matched it with two runs of their own in the bottom half, but it was too late.

George Hanna and Jebbia each had three hits.

Scott Peterson gave up one run in eight innings to earn the win on the mound for Cal Lutheran.

If La Verne beats Caltech in the makeup game, La Verne will host seventh seed Pomona-Pitzer (11-13 SCIAC) and Whittier (16-8) on April 26, play at Cal Lutheran (18-6) on April 27 and at Caltech (0-24 after La Verne win) on April 29.

If La Verne loses, the Leopards will host Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (9-15) and Cal Lutheran (18-6), also on April 26, travel to Chapman (18-6) on April 27 and to Pomona-Pitzer on April 29.