The University of La Verne Leopards exploded for five runs in the 6th inning to win 10-2 over the Occidental Tigers in six innings.
The Leopards offense started with a bang as Kat Navarro hit an opposite-field two-run home run in the first inning to give them a 2-0 lead. The Tigers countered with a run in the 2nd inning to cut the deficit in half and make it a 2-1 Leo's lead. In the 3rd inning, La Verne benefited from two fielding errors by the Tigers which led to three unearned runs, two of which came off a base hit from Clarissa Salazar. The Leopards 5-1 lead would stay steady until Occidental countered in the top of the 6th scoring a run to make it 5-2 La Verne.
In the bottom of the 6th the Leopards offense finally erupted. Navarro started it off with an RBI single, scoring Salazar. Nat Aguilera followed with a two-run single, cashing in Taylor Gray and Haylee Hsieh. Ashley Rodriguez reached on an error, scoring Jillian Gellatly. With the score 9-2 and the Leopards just one run away from ending the game early, Cailin Bliss came up to bat for the first time this season and delivered a walk-off infield single to bring home Loreal Ball.
Standouts
Kat Navarro went 2-4 with 3 RBI's. Navarro also hit her 5th home run (career-high) and now has 25 RBI's on the season (career-high). Clarissa Salazar went 2-3 at the plate and knocked in two runs. Haylee Hiseh walked three times and scored twice. In total nine different Leopards scored and eight Leo's tallied a hit. Rachel Rubio was solid over six innings, striking out three and picking up her 13th win of the season.
Next Up
The University of La Verne Leopards will be in action tomorrow afternoon against the Occidental Tigers in a doubleheader in Los Angeles scheduled for 12 and 2 PM.