LA VERNE, Calif. — The Leopards completed a season sweep against the Occidental College Tigers with a pair of wins Friday afternoon and moved into the top spot in the SCIAC standings.
Season Impact: With the wins, the Leopards move into first place with a 17-5 conference record. La Verne improves their overall record to 22-12.
Occidental drops to 11-20-1 overall and 6-16 in the SCIAC.
Game One: La Verne 3, Occidental 2
The Leopards went up 3-0 in the first two innings and that was all the offense the La Verne softball team needed to beat the Tigers in game one.
Angelica DeAngelo led the Leopards with a pair of hits, an RBI, and a walk. The senior extended the Leopards' lead to 3-0 in the bottom of the second when she doubled to right to score Carly Condon.
Sienna Kendricks added an RBI when she drew a bases-loaded walk to give her squad the initial 1-0 advantage. Melissa Garcia stepped up next with a single to right to score Katheryn Navarro.
Occidental made the game close in the fifth when Alexis Funaki doubled in a pair of runs to cut the deficit to just one run. But pitcher Jiana Rojo forced the next batter to pop up to end the threat.
Rojo picked up her eighth win of the year striking out three in her complete-game performance. Funaki took the loss for the Tigers.
Game Two: La Verne 5, Occidental 3
La Verne fell into an early 3-1 hole, but a big fourth inning propelled the Leopards to their second win of the day.
Shelby Tevis finished 2-4 at the plate with a double, one RBI, and two runs. Katheryn Navarro added a pair of hits and an RBI.
Mikayla Mendoza got the Leopards' rally started in the fourth with a double to left. Rachel Ogata stepped up next hitting a shot to center field to bring in the run. Ogata raced to third for her second triple of the year.
Tevis and DeAngelo each added an RBI double in the inning to put the Leopards up 5-3.
Condon had a big day at the plate finishing with a double that scored Tevis to give the Leopards the opening 1-0 lead. The junior added a triple in the third inning.
Elisa Ponce picked up her eighth win of the year in the circle, striking out two and walking just one in the complete game win.
Next Series: La Verne heads down the road tomorrow to face the Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Athenas in a doubleheader beginning at noon.
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