PASADENA – Joe Winterburn went 5-for-5 to lead a 20-hit Leopard attack and the University of La Verne baseball team overpowered Caltech, 18-0, at the North Field on Tuesday.
La Verne (5-7, 4-4 SCIAC) opened the scoring in the 1st inning when Winterburn knocked in George Hanna who had doubled to lead off the game, and this was all the Leopards would need as the pitching staff turned in a shutout for the second game in a row.
Leading 6-0 after four, the Leopards broke the game open with a five-run 5th. With two runners and two outs, Caltech third baseman John Galden committed a critical error and the Leopards pounced with five unearned runs. Michael Reyes scored on the error, Winterburn doubled to clear the bases and George Holland also hit an RBI double to put the game out of reach for the Beavers.
The Leopards piled on with seven more runs in the 7th inning. Tyler Watkins; Christien Peña; Kevin Knight; Justin Wright; Nikko Williams; and Mariano Padilla all recorded RBIs in the inning.
Josh Surdo launched his first homerun – a two run shot – of the season in the 3rd.
Mark Jebbia got the start on the mound and the junior threw four shutout innings with five strikeouts to earn the win.
Phil Schick, Donald Hernandez and Brett Early all followed with a scoreless inning each to close the game.
Twelve Leopards recorded at least one hit and four had multiple hits. Winterburn added three RBIs and three runs to go along with his five hits. Hanna was 3-for-5, Holland went 2-for-2 and Nolan Henley was 2-for-3.
La Verne returns to action this weekend when it hosts a pair of top-ranked teams. The Leopards will begin a three-game set with No. 5 Kean (N.J.) on Friday at 2 p.m. and will face No. 6 Ithaca (N.Y.) on Sunday at 10:30 a.m.
Follow La Verne Athletics @ULV_Athletics Like La Verne Athletics on Facebook Sign up for our newsletters
