LOS ANGELES — The University of La Verne baseball team could not match No. 24/11Occidental's offensive firepower as it lost both games of a doubleheader on Saturday at Anderson Field.
La Verne drops to 16-13 overall and 9-9 in the SCIAC. Oxy imroves to 22-5 and 18-3.
Game 1: Occidental 12, La Verne 2 (7 inn.)
Jakob Thomas hit a two-run homer and the bats showed signs of shaking off their slump, but the Tigers hit .536 as a team to beat the Leopards, 12-2.
The Tigers put together three hits and pounced on an error in the bottom of the second inning to take a 4-0 lead and never looked back.
Thomas cranked one out over the right field wall to get the Leopards within 6-2, but that was all they would get.
The Leopards had their chances to push across some more runs. La Verne got at least one runner on in six of seven innings but just couldn't cash them in. The Leopards left nine runners on base.
Game 2: Occidental 8, La Verne 2 (6 inn.)
The Tigers once again jumped out to a big early lead and held on for a 8-2 win in a rain-shortened nightcap.
With a runner on first and two outs in the bottom of the first, the Tigers went walk-single-single to break the scoring seal and grabbed a 2-0 lead. Devon DeRaad then hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the second to stretch Oxy's lead to 5-0.
Ben White responded with a two-out RBI double in the top of the third get La Verne on the board but the Tigers put together another two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth to extend the lead to 8-1.
Thomas launched a solo shot in the top of the fifth but it wasn't nearly enough.
Up next
The Leopards are back in action next weekend against Cal Lutheran. La Verne travels to Thousand Oaks on Friday and hosts the Kingsmen for a doubleheader on Saturday.