by Tom Chambers
Staff Writer
The University of La Verne’s softball team had a busy week, wining seven straight games. The Leopards improve to 23 and 5 over all and keep its streak alive, preserving their undefeated prowess in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).
La Verne defeated Whittier three times and Redlands twice over the weekend.
In the three games against Whittier, La Verne slated 26 runs and allowed only five. La Verne continued its dominance against Redlands, over matching the Bulldogs 15-4 in two games that were make ups for a rainout.
Despite the team’s defensive flex, the Leopards’ offense was not jealous. Six of La Verne’s nine starters have hit home runs this year, all over the fence. This includes sophomore shortstop Gina Meza’s five homeruns in five games over the weekend, Thus far Meza has 10 homeruns on the season. The inertia of Meza’s power rolled off to teammate Lisa Cheney who also hit a homerun against Whittier and Kim Schrepfer who also had two.
Despite its undefeated record in SCIAC play and the recent terror of other teams, head coach Julie Kline believes that the team has still not reached it’s zenith.
“We are taking this one game at a time. It’s just like what we have written on the back of our team shirts ‘we don’t settle.’ We are taking it to heart and our hard work is paying off,” said Kline.
With Kline’s effort to keep the team grounded and focused, the student body is beginning to realize how good this team is. With a perfect game, five homerun weekends and countless mercy-rule victories over opponents, the attention is deserved. If the women continue to play in the outer atmosphere they will be headed to the regional and national playoffs.
The Leopards have not settled and continue to work hard, preparing for today’s home game against Cal Lutheran who is also undefeated in SCIAC.
The Leopards are in the driver seat to win conference, but must stay sharp with two other teams, Claremont and Cal Lutheran undefeated in SCIAC.
