LA VERNE, Calif. — Dylan Lowenstein smacked a walk-off double to score Brandon Vogel in the 10th inning to lift the La Verne baseball team to a 5-4 win over defending SCIAC champion Occidental on Friday at Ben Hines Field.

Vogel, who had come in as a defensive replacement earlier in the game, came through with a one-out single to center in his first at-bat to set the table for Lowenstein. Lowenstein then drove one to right center over the head of Oxy center fielder Bryan Smith to break La Verne's four-game losing streak.

The Leopards improve to 14-11 overall and 8-2 in SCIAC play. Oxy falls to 16-9 and 9-4.

Lowenstein finished 2-for-5 at the plate.

La Verne's bullpen, which has struggled in spring break non-conference play, was lights out today. Ethan Fulsher, Hayden Firth and Cody Norman combined to pitch six scoreless innings to close the game while striking out four. Norman earned the first win of his collegiate career.

The Tigers pushed across three runs on four hits in the fourth inning to grab a 4-2 lead but La Verne responded with Jacob Benson's RBI single in the bottom half of the inning and Andrew Douglas scored on a sacrifice fly by Christopher Peres in the bottom of the seventh to tie the game at 4-4.

Douglas had two hits and came around to score both times and Nicholas Michaels also recorded two hits.

Riley James (2-3) was tagged with the loss after giving up the game-winning run.

Jamie Cooper led the Tigers' offense with three hits. Reid Gibbs, Jack Brancheau, Eamon McNeil and Graham Pimm each had two hits.

The teams will complete the series tomorrow with a doubleheader in Los Angeles tomorrow. First game starts at 11 a.m.