The University of La Verne baseball team completed a three-game sweep over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in SCIAC action with two wins in the doubleheader on Saturday. After earning a 4-2 win on Friday, the Leopards won the first game 5-4 in 10 innings and the second in a 11-3 final at Sagehen Field in Claremont.
Cody Hazel led the Leopard offensive with a home run in each of the three games along with five RBI.
In the first game of the doubleheader the Stags struck first scoring two runs in the first inning. La Verne responded back with a run in the second from an RBI single by Mason Stoltenberg. Both teams tallied a run in the third to give CMS a 3-2 advantage.
The Stags took a 4-2 lead when Knowles tripled in the fourth inning and then went on to score when Brian Gose singled to right field.
In the bottom of the fifth Hazel cut the La Verne deficit to one after belting a homer over the right field wall.
Trailing 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Stoltenberg led off with a single to left center. Matt Ashby entered the game as a pinch runner, and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Bryce Roenicke. George Hanna singled putting runners on first and third. Jacob Ludvik reached on an error by the Stags third basebman to knot the game at 4-4.
La Verne's winning run came in the bottom of the 10th inning when Jason Moralez led off getting hit by a pitch and promptly stole second base. Michael Stewart hit a sacrifice bunt to put Moralez on third. David Finneran hit a sac fly to right field scoring Moralez for the 5-4 win.
Ross Hebert earned the win after pitching in the final two innings of the game.
In the second game of the doubleheader, La Verne jumped on the Stags by scoring five runs in the first inning highlighted by an RBI double by Ludvik and a two-run double to left center by Stoltenberg.
Hazel hit his third homer of the series in the second inning to give the Leopards a 6-0 advantage.
CMS got on the board in the third from a solo homer over the center field wall by Scott Witte. La Verne added two more runs in the bottom of the inning and another in the fifth to take a 9-1 lead.
The Stags scored two in the sixth off and RBI double by Brett Watanabe and an RBI ground out by Michael Erb, but the Leopards added two more runs from Moralez on a RBI sac fly in the sixth and a run scoring single in the eighth for the final margin of victory.
Leopard starter Anthony Cerafice went 7.0 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits to earn the win. The loss went to Watanabe.
Ludvik went 3-for-5 at the plate with one RBI, two doubles and two runs scored. Moralez and Stoltenberg were both 2 for 5 at the plate with three RBIs each.
On Friday, CMS played host to the Leopards for the first game of the series. The Stags took an early lead scoring two runs in the first inning. They held their lead until the seventh inning when George Hanna doubled and then scored off an RBI single by Zach Canfield. Ludvik singled to put two runners on. Hazel then hit a three-run homer leading to a 4-2 Leopard victory. Phil Schick earned the win while Cerafice picked up the save.
La Verne improves to 17-9 on the year and 12-3 in the SCIAC to gain sole possession of first place in the conference standings. CMS drops to 12-15 overall and 7-8 in conference play.
The Leopards continue SCIAC action next weekend as it opens a three-game set with Whittier Friday at Mt. SAC. First pitch is scheduled for 7:30 pm.
