Nate Rodriguez, Sports Information Intern

WHITTIER, CA – The Leopards stole the series' rubber match from Whittier College on the road to close out April, mashing three home runs to win 11-8.

Nate Perry, Malachi Francois and Luke Garcia all took slow jogs around the bases after hitting home runs that gave La Verne the lead and subsequently the win. Perry's third inning smash gave the Leos a 5-4 lead, and Francois' two-run shot later in the inning extended the lead to 7-4. Garcia homered in the seventh to make it 10-7 at that point.

The Leopards' offense collected 13 hits, led by Garcia and Matt Diaz with three each. Diaz, who earned two starts in center field this weekend, had three-hit games in both outings for a series total of six. He drove in a pair of runs, as did first baseman Noah Garcia, but Francois broke out in big fashion for a game-high five RBIs. La Verne used three pitchers to pick up the win, with left-hander Chase Pederson earning the victory as the pitcher of record. SCIAC saves leader Benny Vogel notched his ninth save, a two-inning performance allowing just one hit and striking a batter out.

The Leopards (25-12, 18-3) will take their lead atop the SCIAC into next weekend against the nationally-ranked #20 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Stags (27-7, 17-4) who trail them by just one game in the conference standings. With the regular season championship on the line, the two teams will be playing for home-field advantage in the SCIAC playoffs. First game of that battle will be 3 PM Friday May 5th at Ben Hines Field.

(photo by Joseph Ceniceros)