MARSHALL, TX - The La Verne Leopards took to the field for the final time this 2023 season, after winning game 2 and forcing the ETBU Tigers to a third and final game of the NCAA Super Regional tournament.
ETBU started the game hot, scoring one run in the 1st, and then 6 more on 6 hits in the 2nd - including a grand slam home run. It was 7-0 Tigers going into the third inning.
Noah Garcia scored Cameron Slessor with a single to right center in the 3rd and put the Leopards on the board, 7-1.
The Tigers scored 2 more in 5th, followed by two 2-run home runs in the 6th that extended the ETBU lead to 13-1.
Vicente Molina was given the nod in the top of the 7th and was the first Leopard pitcher of the game to sit down three consecutive Tigers. Ryan Vosika's bat started the bottom of the inning with a line drive single, and then crossed the plate for the Leopard's second run of the game off a Chase Siffert RBI single, 13-2.
In the bottom of the 8th, Vosika cut the Tiger lead to 10 with a line drive RBI single. The Leopards ended the inning with the bases loaded.
The top of the 9th added one more to the ETBU count, 14-3.
The Leopards continued their fight to the end, with Salcedo, and Vosika adding an RBI each, and three more runs to the board before the inning ended, 14-6.
The inning ended with the ETBU Tigers punching their first-ever ticket to the 2023 NCAA World Series with the Game 3 NCAA Super Regional Win.
The Leopards finished their season 32-18, with the best team season finish since 1995.
(photo curtesy of ETBU staff)
