ORANGE, CA — The University of La Verne softball team looked strong at the plate and the Leopards finished opening day with a win over Chapman.

The young Leopard squad totaled 21 hits in the two games after a very long offseason.

Season Impact

La Verne starts the season 1-1 and Champan moves to 5-9 overall and 5-5 in the SCIAC.

Game One: La Verne 8, Chapman 2

The Leopards finished game one strong, scoring all eight of its runs in this final eight innings to come away with a win in the opener.

Eight different Leopards notched a hit in the victory with the squad totaling 11 in the game.

Linda Gherir was outstanding in her green and orange debut. The Concordia-Portland transfer finished with two hits, including a double, and added three RBIs and a run. Marissa Acosta and Tauney Mack each finished with two hits and an RBI.

Freshmen Haylee Hsieh, Jazzalyn Reyes, and Lucy Velasco each add an RBI. The 2021 La Verne squad features nine freshmen.

Down 2-0 in the fourth, Gherir got the Leopards' offense going when she singled to right to bring in Mia Pintado and Mack. La Verne took the lead its next time up this time with Mack scoring Hsieh off an infield single.

It was all La Verne from there as the Leopards scored another run in the sixth, added three more in the seventh, and shutout the Panthers the rest of the game.

Jocelyn Robertson was stellar in her debut, striking out four in the complete-game win.

Chapman was led by Summer Lake and Alyssa Ahinger who both finished with an RBI.

Game Two: Chapman 11, La Verne 3 (five innings)

The Leopards' bats kept working in game two, totaling 10 hits in the game, but La Verne couldn't turn the hits into runs leaving nine runners on base in the loss.

Acosta and Mack again each added a pair of hits. Mack added an RBI single in the fourth. Reyes finished 2-3 at the plate with an RBI and a stolen base.

The Panthers did all of their damage in the third inning, scoring 11 runs off eight hits to seal the win.

Alyssa Molina, Hsieh, Gherir, and Robertson all finished with a hit.

Lake led Chapman with two hits and four RBIs.

Next Game

La Verne plays their home opener and closes their series with Chapman tomorrow at 2 p.m.