CLAREMONT, Calif. — The University of La Verne baseball team reached double digits in hitting in both games and Brent Backlund and Alex Bernstein both pitched deep into their starts to complete the sweep of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps on Saturdat at Arce Field.
The Leopards improve to 8-2 overall and 6-0 in the SCIAC. CMS falls to 3-8 and 2-4.
Game 1: La Verne 6, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2
The Leopards amassed 15 hits and held the Stags to just four in a 6-2 win in the first game.
Nolan Henley went 3-for-4 with two runs scored to pace the offense. Nicholas Michaels, Christpher Peres and Andrew Vrtar had two hits apiece.
Brent Backlund (2-0) fought some control problems but still pitched into the seventh inning to earn the win. He issued four walks and gave up two runs but scattered just four hits in 6.1 innings while striking out six.
Anthony Braun relieved Backlund threw 2.2 perfect innings to finish the game off and earn the first save of his career.
The Leopards scored all the runs they needed in the fifth. Vrtar led off with a single and later came around to score on an error by the CMS second baseman to tie the game at 1-1. Anthony Gonzalez then singled through the left side to score Henley, who had reached on the error, and Peres capped off the inning with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to give the Leopards a 3-1 lead.
The Stags got one back in the bottom of the fifth but La Verne tacked on three more runs in the seventh and the eighth to seal the win. Mark Abbate hit a two-out pinch-hit double to score La Verne's sixth run in the eighth inning.
Game 2: La Verne 4, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2
Alex Bernstein pitched seven strong innings to lead the Leopards to a 4-2 win in the nightcap.
Bernstein struck out seven and scattered just six hits to pick up his first win of the season.
Nick Byrd took over in the eighth with two runners on and earned a six-out save, striking out two.
The Leopards struck early as Woody Reyes doubled to lead off the game and Jakob Thomas knocked him in with a single up the middle.
Reyes and Thomas teamed up again in the top of the third to produce a run for La Verne. Reyes led off with a walk and advanced to second on a bunt, Thomas pushed him over to third with a single and Peres knocked in Reyes with a sacrifice fly.
In the fourth, Christopher Arcos led off with a single, advanced to third on an errant pickoff attempt and trotted home on a single by Andrew Douglas to give the Leopards a 3-1 lead. Arcos doubled home a run in fifth inning to push the lead to 4-1.
Reyes, Thomas and Arcos each had two hits for the Leopards.
Up next
The Leopards return to action on Friday at Redlands.
