LA VERNE, CA — The University of La Verne baseball team closed out the regular season on Saturday, splitting a pair of games with the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags.
Season Impact
With the win, the Leopards clinch second place in the SCIAC and home-field advantage in the first round of the SCIAC Tournament. La Verne finishes the regular season 29-11 overall and 16-8 in SCIAC play.
SCIAC Tournament At A Glance
Chapman finishes the regular season in first place and will open at home against No. 4 Cal Lutheran on Friday. The Leopards will host No. 3 seed Occidental College on Friday at 3 p.m. Chapman will host the remainder of the tournament on Saturday and Sunday.
Game One: La Verne 9, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 2
The Leopards exploded for five runs in fourth and scored runs in three of the next four innings to pull away for the win in Saturday's opener.
Ryan Galan and Jacob Barriga led the Leopards with two RBI apiece. Galan drew three walks in the win. Barriga finished with two hits, including a double, and two walks.
Adam Santa Cruz, Tanner Siffert, Ryan Aguilar, Lukas Granado, and Jacob Benson each finished with one RBI.
Aguilar added the highlight for the Leopards in the sixth inning when the senior pinch hitter stepped into the box and hit a solo shot over the right field fence halfway up the netting.
Devon Burhans picked up his sixth win of the season, pitching a nearly perfect eight and two-thirds innings. The junior didn't allow a run until the ninth inning.
Senior Ethan Fulsher stepped in to record the final out.
Game Two: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps 5, La Verne 2
Benson finished with two RBI, Tanner Browning and Santa Cruz added two hits each but the Leopards couldn't generate enough runs to complete the sweep.
Brandon Mitchell picked up the win for the Stags, pitching eight innings.
Next Game
The Leopards host Occidental next Friday at 3 p.m in the opening round of the SCIAC Postseason Tournament.
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