Nate Rodriguez, Sports Information Intern

La Verne, CA – The ultimate regular-season series battle for first place began with a #19 Leopards' loss at Ben Hines Field on Friday. The #17 Chapman Panthers tattooed ULV pitching for 22 hits in a 17-5 mercy-rule win over eight innings.

The Leopards honored ten seniors pregame during the Senior Night ceremonies, but the magic in the air wasn't enough to lift the Green and Orange to a series-opening win. La Verne used six pitchers throughout the contest, all but one surrendering an earned run. Senior right-hander Sean Holt lasted 5.2 innings, eating up frames to try and save the bullpen in a game that slipped away from the Leopards in the sixth. Chapman scored runs continuously from the third inning through the eighth, highlighted by a seven-run seventh inning to put the finishing touches on the mercy-rule contest. La Verne started the scoring in the bottom of the first, added a run in the third, then managed three more in the eighth before suffering the loss. With two outs in the first inning, senior first baseman Tanner Siffert singled to the opposite field and advanced to second on a bobble in the outfield. On the very next pitch, senior right fielder Brandon Shiota drove Siffert home with a line-drive single to center. Shiota led the offensive charge with three hits; another RBI single in the bottom of the third inning to score senior center fielder Jacob Barriga and a leadoff double to start the ULV rally in the eighth. Senior first baseman John Bike entered late in the game as a pinch hitter, slicing an opposite-field single and a double down the right-field line in a 2-2 performance. Chapman extended their winning streak to eight games, forcing a tie with the Leopards atop the SCIAC standings headed into the final day of the 2022 regular season. The 17-5 Panthers and Leopards face-off in 18 innings tomorrow at Chapman University, a doubleheader set to start at 11:00 am with the conference title on the line.