The University of La Verne baseball team held a lead against Chapman, but watched the Panthers rally to take the series opener in a 6-4 final at Hart Park Sunday evening.

Down 3-2 after the third inning, the Leopards scored two runs in the top of the fourth to take a 4-3 lead. With one out on the board, Ross Hebert and David Finneran would both reach on Panther errors to give La Verne two runners on base. Zach Canfield then hit a double down the right line to score two runs for the lead.

Chapman responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, starting with back-to-back doubles by James Parr and Troy Newman. With the game knotted at four, a double by Steve Greenberg to right center would put the Panthers on top by one run. Chapman was able to score an insurance run in the fifth inning off a triple by Parr for the 6-4 victory.

La Verne's first run of the game came from an RBI single to right field by Cody Hazel in the first inning. Hazel also scored the second run in the third inning when he reached on a fielder's choice when the bases were loaded.

Brian Ruah, who pitched seven innings, earned the win for the Panthers. Kevin Osaki picked up the save after pitching in the final two innings.  The loss went to Phil Schick.

Hazel went 2-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs and one double. Canfield was 1-for-3 with two RBIs, one run scored and a double.

La Verne is now 13-7 overall while Chapman improves to 8-10.

The Leopards will complete their series with the Panthers on Monday with a doubleheader at Hart Park in Orange. The first game will start at 3:00pm.