BIRMINGHAM, AL - The University of La Verne baseball team became NCAA Regional Champions after defeating the Birmingham Southern College Panthers today, 15-10.

The Leopards walked 7 times, got 19 hits, and Nathan Perry and Matthew Diaz both had home runs in the win.

Ryan McLernon took over for Chase Pederson on the hill and earned his fourth win of the season. McLernon only allowed 1 run and had 2 strikeouts.

The Leopards dominated the first 4 innings, scoring 12 unanswered runs. Diaz (3), Chase Siffert, Cameron Slessor, Perry, and Logan Reese (3) all contributed RBIs to the early effort. The Panthers closed out the 4th with 4 runs of their own, and the score was 12-4 Leopards going into the 5th. Perry went yard for two with a homerun in the 5th to extend the Leopard lead to 14-4.

La Verne increased their lead further to 15-6 in the 8th when Noah Garcia singled up the middle scoring Slessor.

The Panthers rallied in the final two innings with three additional runs, but Garret Halbeisen answered the call to the mound and delivered an important 9th inning outing, striking out his first batter and forcing two final ground outs to end the inning and the game. 

With the win, the Leopards won their 31st game of the season, and earned a spot in the NCAA Super Regionals later this week.