THOUSAND OAKS, CA — Aaron Fong and John Bike hit back-to-back RBIs to tie the game in the ninth, Chase Siffert came through with the game-winning RBI single in extras, and the University of La Verne Leopards came away with a 7-6 10-inning win in Sunday's doubleheader opener at Cal Lutheran.

Trailing 6-4 in the top of the ninth, Brandon Shiota led off with a single to right center and Tanner Siffert followed with a double that put the pair in scoring position. Fong stepped up next and did his part hitting a sacrifice fly to deep right field that sent Shiota home and brought the tying run within 90 feet from the plate. Bike kept the momentum going with a single to left that scored Siffert and tied the game. Cal Lutheran pitcher Zach Hardman was able to get out of the inning without allowing any more damage.

Cameron Slessor kept the Leopards rolling in the 10th with a single to left and moved station to station to get into scoring position. Slessor first took second on a wild pitch and Anthony Salcedo laid down a sacrifice bunt to move him to third. Chase Siffert added the difference maker with a single through the left side that sent what proved to be the winning run home.

The Leopards relied on six different players to drive in runs in the win with Shiota, Tanner Siffert, and Adam Santa Cruz each adding an RBI. La Verne totaled 13 hits with Cole McCollum, Gregory Pavon, Shiota, Bike, and Santa Cruz each notching two. Pavon led the Leopards with two runs.

La Verne used six different pitchers in the win with Brenden Bergen stepping on the mound for the final two innings recording one strikeout with no runs to pick up the win. Starting pitcher Gerald Terry went four innings with four strikeouts.

Cal Lutheran was led by Ryan Farr's two RBIs.

Game Two: Cal Lutheran 9, La Verne 8

The Leopards scored four runs in the first inning before jumping out to a 6-0 lead and looked poised to walk away with the series-deciding win. But the Kingsmen rallied for eight runs in the sixth, took a 9-0 lead in the eight, and held off a late La Verne rally to spoil the Leopards comeback attempt.

La Verne started off hot using four hits and a Cal Lutheran error to jump out to an early 4-0 lead. Anthony Salcedo kept the momentum rolling with an RBI single in the second and a double that drove in a run in the fourth to put his squad up by six. 

But the Kingsmen responded in the sixth sending 13 batters to the plate in the inning and totaling eight hits to take the 8-6 advantage.

Down 9-6 in the ninth La Verne showed some life with Salcedo and Brandon Shiota hitting back-to-back singles to open the inning. Salcedo scored on an error and John Bike singled in Tanner Siffert later in the inning but that was as close as the Leopards would get.

Salcedo had a standout game for his squad finishing 3-4 at the dish with two RBIs, two runs, a double, and a walk. The speedster also added his third stolen base of the year. Cameron Slessor drove in two runs in the first to cap off La Verne's opening surge. 

Aaron Fong totaled two hits, one RBI, and one run. Christian Killian added two hits and a run to go along with Tanner Siffert's two runs and one hit. Drew Reddick finished with one run and one hit and Gregory Pavon drew two walks and scored once. Jaylon Fong went four innings in his start and struck out four.

Season Impact

The Leopards move to 2-4 overall and 2-4 in the SCIAC while Cal Lutheran now stands at 7-7 overall and 7-5 in the SCIAC.

Next Game

La Verne opens its final series of the regular season this Friday with a 3 p.m. showdown at Redlands.