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Leopards finish 2-2 in Cal Classic

Shortstop Ryan Holmes aids the Leopards in increasing their Sunday afternoon lead over the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. The Leopards would take the win, 12-3, in their third game in the Cal Classic. Overall, ULV ended with a 2-2 record for the weekend. The second victory came Sunday night against the University Rutgers-Newark, 25-3. / photo by Gloria Diaz
Shortstop Ryan Holmes aids the Leopards in increasing their Sunday afternoon lead over the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth. The Leopards would take the win, 12-3, in their third game in the Cal Classic. Overall, ULV ended with a 2-2 record for the weekend. The second victory came Sunday night against the University Rutgers-Newark, 25-3. / photo by Gloria Diaz

by Adrian Medrano
Staff Writer

After losing its first two games of the California Classic held at Ben Hines Field last weekend, the University of La Verne baseball team regained its composure and won its last two games.

The Leopards lost, 11-6, to DeSales University Saturday morning and the on-field woes continued as they dropped another game to Menlo College Saturday night, 10-6.

The Leopards, however, quickly picked themselves up on Sunday and slaughtered University of Massachusetts Dartmouth and Rutgers-Newark. They outscored both teams by a combined total of 37-6.

“We went from playing really bad, to getting hit after hit in the last two games,” said freshman outfielder Danny Bonilla, who went 8-for-18 with six RBIs in the round robin tournament, hosted by ULV.

On Saturday night, Menlo took advantage of seven Leopard errors en route to their victory. The Leopard defensive errors proved to be costly as only seven of the 10 runs scored by the Oaks were earned.

Luck was not on the Leopards’ side. In the bottom of the third inning, senior infielder A.J. Reyes hit a double to the left-center gap; he was called out at third base in a controversial call trying to stretch his double into a triple.

“We’re always going to get bad breaks,” Winterburn said. “We didn’t respond to those breaks the way we should have.”

Sophomore designated hitter Jonathan Marty sparked the Leopards against the Oaks as he hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth, capping off a four RBI performance. Reyes also hit a solo shot to contribute to the effort.

Starting pitcher Jason Bynum led the Oaks as he pitched a complete game.

“You have to tip your cap to (Bynum) for the way he pitched,” Winterburn said.

Things were looking on the upside for the Leopards in their first game with DeSales, but they surrendered five runs in the fifth inning and the Bulldogs never looked back. The Leopard pitchers struggled with obvious command problems as six hurlers gave up a combined seven walks.

Injury also plagued the Leopards against the Bulldogs as sophomore center fielder and leadoff hitter Lucas Berry injured his thumb sliding trying to steal second base. Winterburn referred to Berry as “the catalyst of both the offense and defense.”

Soriano led the Leopard offense, going 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Marty contributed nicely and went 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored.

The Leopards did a complete 180 as they came to Ben Hines Field looking like a new team on Sunday afternoon and Dartmouth was the victim.

All aspects of the Leopards’ game drastically improved. Ortega went three for five with four RBIs and Bonilla went four for five with one RBI.

Freshman pitcher Mark Simmons threw a gem as he surrendered only one earned run in a hard worked seven innings.

Head coach Scott Winterburn said that the mentality that the players had in the last two games and the way they approached the plate was what led them to the two victories.

The Leopards’ play went from good to better as they stomped on Rutgers, 25-3, forcing the game to be called in the seventh inning under a tournament mercy rule.

As the effort remained high, the Leopards began to see some good luck. In the second inning against Rutgers, senior James Ortega was hung up in a pickle between third base and home plate, but made the best of a very bad situation as he avoided the catcher’s tag and earned a stolen base and a run.

Ortega went three for four with four RBIs and four runs scored. Senior outfielder Daniel Soriano also went three for six with one RBI and four runs scored. Senior Garrett Riojas added a 2-for-2 performance and three RBIs.

The Leopards will face a difficult challenge as they host Chapman at 5 p.m. today. The Panthers are the defending 2003 NCAA Division III national champions.

Adrian Medrano
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Gloria Diaz, Arts and Entertainment Editor
Gloria Diaz
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