It was a close and intense series, but unfortunately for the University of La Verne, the squad was on the short end of three one-run verdicts on the weekend as the Leopards dropped both games of Saturday's doubleheader against the Kingsmen by scores of 4-3 and 9-8 in Thousand Oaks.

La Verne held a 3-0 advantage in the opener but CLU closed to within 3-2 before consecutive errors allowed the home team to knot the score at 3-3.  Chris Hertz hit an RBI double in the seventh to give CLU the lead at 4-3.

With runners on first and third with two outs in the ninth, Mark Larini attempted to score the tying run from third during a rundown of Sergio Munoz between first and second.  Larini was thrown out at home to end the contest.

In the second game, the Leopards and Kingsmen were tied at 8-8 when CLU punched across the game-winning run on a sacrifice fly. 

The contest began with eight runs scored in the first inning as the Leopards opened with three runs while the Kingsmen responded with five to take a 5-3 advantage.  The roles reversed in the fifth inning when the Leos tallied five runs before CLU plated three runs to knot the game at 8-8.

Jason Munoz went 2-3 with 2 RBI while Jon-Michael Hattabaugh went 2-4 with 2 RBI.  Joe Buckley and Kevin Ibarra also tallied two hits.

The Leopards tallied 13 hits but left 12 runners on base.

La Verne (13-11, 7-8 SCIAC) will look to rebound next weekend in a three-game series against the California Institute of Technology beginning Friday in Pasadena.