The University of La Verne softball squad faced one of the nation's elite in nationally-ranked Linfield College. The No. 9 Wildcats proved worthy of their ranking as they took the twinbill from the Leopards by scores of 9-0 and 6-1 Wednesday at Wheeler Park.
Though Linfield collected 11 hits en route to the Game 1 victory, the Leopards did themselves no favors by committing six errors including three in the top of the second inning. The Wildcats would plate two runs in the second and four in the third to grab a 6-0 lead and pad their advantage with a run in the fourth and two in the sixth.
The Wildcat trio of Grace Middlestadt, Megan Wallo and Karleigh Prestianni each went 2-4 with Prestianni driving in two runs.
La Verne was held to three hits which included a pair of singles from Raven Freret who went 2-3 at the plate.
In the second game, the Wildcats tallied two runs in the second and three in the third, highlighted by a two-run homer from Ashley Garcia to take a 5-0 lead.
The Leopards scored their lone run in the bottom of the seventh when Danielle Vela smacked a run scoring triple to drive in Amanda Copas from first base. Vela finished the game 2-3 including a double and triple.
Wallo led the Linfield offense with a 3-4 effort with two runs scored.
La Verne (13-9) continues its homestand with a visit from Redlands on Saturday in a twinbill scheduled for a 12:00 pm start.