The University of La Verne baseball team lives to fight another day after defeating top seeded Concordia (Tex.) 8-5 Thursday at Roy Helser Field/Jim Wright Stadium on Day 2 of the McMinnville Regional on the campus of Linfield College.
Trailing 2-1, the Leopards posted seven runs over the seventh and eighth innings to earn victory in the second meeting between the schools this season. The Tornados topped the Leos 8-2 at the Arizona Desert Classic back on Feb. 19.
La Verne tallied five runs in the seventh inning to go ahead for good. The frame was sparked by Jacob Ludvik's two-run double to left center.
Starting pitchers Anthony Cerafice and Tyler Grygar held both offenses at bay, keeping the game scoreless through the first four innings.
Stoltenberg hit an RBI single and advanced to second on a Tornado error, which scored two runs for the Leopards. It was then that Ludvik hit his two-run double to put La Verne up 5-2. The final run of the inning came from Cody Hazel's sacrifice fly to plate Ludvik.
The Tornados (37-10) cut the deficit to a run, scoring three in the eighth inning. With the bases loaded Gommert walked to score the first run followed by a two-run single from Kyle Bieschke to shrink the La Verne lead to 6-5.
Cerafice earned the win, pitching 7.2 innings, allowing eight hits while striking out four batters. Nathan Rollon picked up the save.
La Verne (26-15) will face Coe on Friday at 3:30 pm in an elimination game on Day 3 of the McMinnville Regional.
