LA VERNE, Calif. — Lukas Granado hit three doubles and the University of La Verne baseball team overcame an early seven-run deficit to beat the visiting Chapman Panthers 12-10 Friday afternoon at Ben Hines Field.
Season Impact: The Leopards improve to 24-11 overall and 15-4 in SCIAC play. La Verne is in a tight race for the top spot in the conference with Redlands (16-5 SCIAC). Chapman falls to 26-9 overall and 11-8 in SCIAC play.
Granado, Nicholas Michaels, and Mauricio Guadarrama each knocked in a pair of runs.
Trailing 9-5 in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Leopards rallied with six hits to score six runs to take the lead for good. Granado got the runs going with a double to left that brought in Brandon Vogel and Christopher Peres.
A sacrifice fly by Jacob Benson and an RBI single by Christopher Ligot evened the game. Nicholas Michaels gave La Verne the lead when he doubled in Jakob Thomas and Ligot to put his team up 11-9.
The Panthers and Leopards each traded a run apiece to end the game.
La Verne began chipping away at Chapman's early 7-0 lead in the second inning. Benson brought in a run when he was hit by a pitch by with the bases loaded. A wild pitch with the bases still juiced sent all runners over 90 feet to put the score at 7-2.
The Leopards caught a break two innings later when a fielding error by Chapman's third baseman allowed Benson and Guadarrama to score.
AJ Jimenez was solid in four innings of relief, striking out three with no walks to improve his record to 5-1.
Peres picked up his six save of the year, striking out two batters in the final inning.
Next Game: La Verne continues their series with Chapman tomorrow on the road in a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.
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