WHITTIER, Calif. — Nicholas Michaels finished with four RBI and three hits and the University of La Verne baseball team rallied late to beat the Whittier College Poets on the road.
Season Impact: With the win, the Leopards stay in the hunt for the SCIAC Championship. La Verne is currently tied for first place in the SCIAC with Redlands. The Leopards improve their overall record 26-12 and 17-5 in conference play.
Whittier drops to fifth place with a record of 24-14 overall and 11-11 in the SCIAC.
Trailing 4-1 in the top of the seventh, the Leopards rallied for five runs in the innings off of six hits to take the lead for good. With two outs, La Verne rattled off five hits in a row sparked by Jakob Thomas who doubled to left to bring home Mauricio Guadarrama. Michaels stepped up next with a triple to cut the deficit to one. Christopher Peres made it three hits in a row with an RBI single up the middle.
Brandon Vogel and Adam Santa Cruz added RBI doubles to put La Verne up 6-4.
Santa Cruz and Guadarrama each finished with three hits.
Michaels added an insurance runs his next time up hitting a three-run shot with two outs to put his team up by five. La Verne finished the contest with 15 hits.
AJ Jimenez picked up his sixth win of the year pitching five and a third innings of relief with three strikeouts.
Alex Baez took the loss for the Poets.
Next Game: The Leopards continue their series with the Poets tomorrow with a doubleheader at home beginning at 11 a.m. La Verne will celebrate their seniors in a brief pregame ceremony.
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