(Release courtesy of Tracy Maple, Cal Lutheran Sports Information Director)

THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — The University of La Verne baseball team got out to a quick lead against No. 7/14 Cal Lutheran in the first game of the double elimination SCIAC Postseason Tournament, but could not contain the CLU bats in a 8-5 loss.

The Leopards will face Whitter, who lost the Chapman on the other side of the bracket, at 8:30 a.m. in a must-win game. Should La Verne win that game, the Leopards will face the loser of Cal Lutheran-Chapman at 2:30 p.m.

La Verne wasted no time putting up a crooked number, sparked by leadoff double from Nolan Henley. After a sacrifice bunt moved him up to third, George Hanna singled to the right centerfield gap, plating the first run of the game. A hit batter put two men on for LV and after a strike out, six-hole hitter Pedro Espinoza battled with CLU starting pitcher Tyler Hebda, earning an RBI single up the middle to double the La Verne lead. A diving catch in shallow centerfield by Justin Caña ended the inning and brought the Kingsmen to the plate.

CLU responded in the bottom of the first with a four spot. The speedy centerfielder started the Violet and Gold off hot with a single to center that was followed by a walk from Nicho DellaValle. Serving as the designated hitter, Jake Petersen singled to load the bases and Ramsey Abushahla was hit square in the back by a pitch to plate the first Cal Lutheran run of the afternoon. A Leopards error on a sacrifice fly from Collin Crowl knotted the game and a pair of ground ball outs from Davey Casciola and Gabe Gunter each pushed a run across to turn the deficit into an advantage.

In the top of the second, La Verne stormed back. A CLU error allowed the first batter of the frame to reach and on a well-executed hit-and-run Josh Surdo singled to the right side and put men on the corners. Henley and Tyler Watkins each drove in a run to again even the score. The CLU catching-second baseman tandem of Spencer DuBois and Craig Jacobson gunned down Watkins trying to steal for the second out of the inning and Hebda got his second strike out of the game to end the stanza.

Things would settle down on both sides with DellaValle hustling out a single in the second and Espinoza notching another base knock in the top of the third, though neither runner advanced past first.

The leather shined in a 1-2-3 fourth frame for the Kingsmen. DellaValle made a diving stop deep in the hole at shortstop, firing a strike across the diamond to Crowl for the first out. Hebda then stopped a comebacker and converted the second out after retrieving the ball and DellaValle played a nice hop off the mound for the final out. The momentum swayed back in favor of the home team at that point.

Cal Lutheran broke the tie in the bottom of the fourth by batting around. Back-to-back doubles from DuBois and Caña with an ensuing RBI single from DellaValle and an infield single off the bat of Petersen plated a pair. When Abushahla was hit for the second time of the game he loaded the bags for Crowl who drew a bases loaded walk. 

Defense continued to shine in the fifth as Jacobson made a diving stop and a spinning play to set the tone for the inning and a 6-4-3 double play ended it. Hebda worked a pair of strike outs in the sixth before forcing a towering pop-up to Casciola at third for the final out.

Hebda handed the ball to Aaron Roth in the seventh, completing 6.0 innings, striking out four and walking just one as he scattered nine hits and allowed three earned runs. Roth came in to strike out the first two batters he faced, looking and recorded the final out by way of a swinging strike out, but Joe Winterburn lined a homerun over the left field wall to add to the LV tally, making the score 7-5.

Just as quickly as the lead was diminished, Casciola reciprocated with a solo homerun of his own to push the advantage back to three, which ultimately knocked Mark Jebbia off the hill after 6.0. The junior hurler struck out five, walking three and allowed six earned runs. In the seventh, La Verne turned a double play though the Leos were forced to use four different arms in the inning to keep CLU from scoring more.

Roth helped himself by using his foot to knock down a ball hit up the middle to round out the eighth inning and came back to throw a scoreless ninth as well. With the save, Roth reaches double figures for the second consecutive season. Today, he worked 3.0, striking out three and walking one.

Overall, DellaValle had a 3-for-4 day at the plate with two runs and an RBI while Petersen also notched three hits, all infield singles. Caña was the only other CLU player with a multi-hit day as the Kingsmen combined for 10 hits.

La Verne (19-21) also collected 10 hits with Espinoza and Hanna tallying two apiece.