Nate Rodriguez
La Verne, CA – After dropping the series opener to interconference rival Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens, the Leopards lost the first of two games on Saturday at Ben Hines Field before taking it to their opponent in the second ballgame; La Verne defeated Pomona-Pitzer 11-4 in the series finale.
Jerry Terry surrendered the loss in Saturday's headliner, his ERA taking a dip for the first time all season. Even after the four-inning performance in which Terry allowed eight, the right-hander is amongst the top five pitchers leading in the ERA category. Four of the five spots are taken by Leopards: #2 Alfredo Frey (1.41), #3 Benny Vogel (1.70), #4 Jerry Terry (2.16) and #5 Sean Holt (2.59). La Verne used five pitchers in the loss to cover the workload, all of which were charged with at least one earned run. The offense struggled out of the gate, being held scoreless until Pomona-Pitzer lifted their starter after seven shutout innings. Malachi Francois was the lone Leo starter with multiple hits. Infielders Miguel Espana and Gregory Pavon both shared pinch-hit opportunities and came off the bench swinging, lacing line-drive singles in each of their at-bats. Pomona-Pitzer pushed themselves into first place by coming away with the series win after handing the Leopards their first back-to-back losses all season; it took until the season's penultimate week for an opponent to claim such a feat. Having been heavily outhit in the first two contests, the Leopards flipped a switch in game three. They jumped out to an early 4-0 lead after the bottom of the first, stringing together four consecutive two-out hits to ambush the Sagehens' starter. Earning the start in left field, Jacob Barriga set the tone with a leadoff walk and came around to score on Brandon Shiota's two-out single through the left side of the infield to start the rally. Francois followed with a single of his own, Cam Slessor doubled to left field driving home Shiota and Manny Munoz singled home both Francois and Slessor on a grounder through to center field. In the second inning, La Verne scattered four more two-out hits atop two free passes for an additional five runs. The offense recorded both outs before Chase Siffert broke a short hitless streak with a double down the left-field line, Tanner Siffert drew a walk and Shiota doubled into the left-field corner to drive home Chase.
Francois wore a pitch to put runners at first and second, then Slessor joined the "double-to-left-field-with-two-outs-and-men-on-base" which plated Shiota. With Slessor at second and Francois at third, Munoz collected another pair of RBIs with an opposite-field single. After two, the Leos held a comfortable 9-0 lead. Freshman southpaw Benny Vogel threw well over 100 pitches in his season's eighth start, dominating the Sagehens' lineup outside of a third-inning three-run home run. Vogel lightened the load on La Verne's taxed bullpen, navigating through seven innings with eight strikeouts. The Leos' offense put the finishing touches on an impressive series finale with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh; for the third time, a two-out rally extended their lead over Pomona-Pitzer. Appearing as a pinch-hitter, John Bike yanked a fastball down the right-field line and into the corner for a double and was pinch-ran for by Anthony Salcedo. Barriga barreled a ball the other way down the left-field line for a double to score the runner and Chase Siffert singled him home on a line drive to center. The Leopards reclaimed their spot atop the SCIAC after defeating the Sagehens in the series' conclusion. Despite dropping the series overall, their 17-4 conference record holds a 1.5 game lead over 14-4 Pomona-Pitzer.
La Verne is scheduled for a conference bye-week at the end of April, during which time the team will plan to Walla Walla, Washington for three non-conference matchups.
