Nate Rodriguez, Sports Information Intern
La Verne, CA – After dropping the first leg of the doubleheader on Saturday 5-1, the Leopards' baseball team bounced back to a ten-run victory against the Lutes from Tacoma, Washington in the second game of action.
GAME ONE:
The Leopards scattered five hits in the first nine innings against Pacific Lutheran University, pushing across just one run in the bottom of the seventh falling to the Lutes 5-1. Right fielder Brandon Shiota opened the seventh off by reaching on a dropped pop fly to the center fielder. Cameron Slessor moved him over with an infield single before John Bike flied out to center, plating home Shiota on the sacrifice. The Lutes scored one in the fourth, then three in the fifth to break the score open 4-1. A pair of PLU solo home runs padded their lead, one allowed by Sean Holt and the other by Benny Vogel, and they carried the advantage through the game's finish. La Verne dropped to 9-2-1 with the exhibition loss, handing the ball to Jerry Terry for game two.
GAME TWO:
Head Coach Scott Winterburn is now just two wins away from his 500th career collegiate win after the Leopards downed the Lutes in the second leg, 11-1. Jerry Terry delivered a strong performance on the mound for the Leos, striking out seven in six innings. He allowed the Lutes' lone run with two outs in the sixth on a pinch-hit bloop single into center. Sidearm hurler Alfredo Frey continued his impressive start to the season, being asked to close out the doubleheader action with Terry having thrown close to 100 pitches. Frey entered with power and precision from the rubber, attacking hitters with an abundance of first-pitch strikes and finishing three scoreless innings with five strikeouts. The Leopards rattled the Lutes' pitching for ten hits, with multi-hit performances from Chase Siffert, Cam Slessor, and Drew Reddick. Siffert led the Leos' offense with three RBIs, cracking open the scoring in the first with a hit-n-run double into the right center gap to plate across Anthony Salcedo. Reddick and designated hitter Matt Diaz each had a pair of RBIs also.
The Leopards hit double digits in the win column following the victory, and look to carry their 10-2 record into a midweek, non-conference heavyweight matchup with the 12-4 California Lutheran Kingsmen on Tuesday, March 15.
