Joseph Lovallo
Assistant Editor
The University of La Verne baseball team won two of three games last weekend in their series against California Lutheran University.
The victories moved the Leopards within a game of first place CLU in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference standings.
La Verne (21-7, 10-4) earned a 9-2 victory Friday at Ben Hines Field, sparked by an offensive outburst and backed by pitching from Mark Simmons.
The offense led the way as everyone in the line-up contributed at least one hit, and Simmons picked up his fifth win of the year after.
“We felt coming into Friday’s game that we wanted to set the tone for a series sweep,” head coach Scott Winterburn said. “We got a good start, and Mark (Simmons) was on point for us.”
Designated hitter Kyle Johnson got the Leopards on the board as he led the fourth inning off with a home run.
Lucas Berry contributed to the seven run inning as his single knocked in Colby Jamar and Danny Bonilla.
Johnson added another home run in the seventh, finishing with a 2-for-5 and three RBI effort.
Jamar accounted for a quarter of La Verne’s 16 hits, going a perfect 4-for-4.
“This was a big series for us,” Johnson said. “I just wanted to get off on the right foot and to put us in the position to win.”
On Saturday, the Leopards traveled to Thousand Oaks for a two game set against the Kingsmen, taking the first game 6-4, but dropping the second, 10-2.
In game one, John Marty’s 10th inning single sealed the victory for the Leopards, as he knocked in Johnson and B.J. DuBarry.
Marty led the Leopards, going the 2-for-5 with three RBIs with a solo home run in the fifth inning.
Berry finished with a 2-for-3 effort with two runs knocked in.
Scott Lindeen picked up his sixth win of the season as he struck out nine-in-nine innings, and Kyle Darg’s 10th inning relief effort earned him the save.
“Scott pitched great for us,” Winterburn said. “The game started to get away from us, but Marty came through with a huge hit.”
In game two, the Leopards went cold, as they could only muster two runs, while the Kingsmen exploded for 10.
Cal Lutheran opened with a 5-0 lead and totaled 16 hits leaving the Leopards in the dust.
“We came out with a good start,” Marty said. “But we can’t get lackadaisical, and can’t expect teams to rollover if we win the first two games.”
Ryan Holmes was able to score on an error in the sixth inning, and Johnson’s single scored DuBarry for the only other run of the game.
DuBarry was the only Leopard with multiple hits, as he went 2-for-4 at the plate. Anthony Ornelas was credited with he loss.
Christian Harriot led the Kingsmen with a 4-for-4 performance and three RBIs.
“We came out flat in the final game.” Winterburn added. “The most disappointing part of the loss was that we didn’t play good baseball.”
After the Kingsmen took the 10-2 decision in the second game, the SCIAC lead leveled at a tie between La Verne and Cal Lutheran.
The Leopards started their span of non-conference action defeating the National Athletic Intercollegiate Association’s Concordia University 9-4 on Tuesday at Irvine.
ULV dominated the game, scoring four runs in both the fourth and ninth innings.
Marty, Jason House and Brandon Mickelson all contributed RBI hits in the ninth to seal the win.
Marty led the Leopards at bat going 3-for-5 at the plate and four RBIs.
“One thing that has definitely helped us this year is that we’ve gotten a collective effort from our players, Winterburn said. “There isn’t one guy out here who really stands out, but instead different guys who step up and get the job done.”
La Verne will return to action today as they face Chapman, which currently is ranked No. 2 in the nation for Division III schools. The three-game set begins today at 3 p.m. at Ben Hines field. The Leopards then head to Orange tomorrow to take on the Panthers at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Before the team starts conference action again, they will face Caltech on April 12 for a junior varsity game.
The Leopards next conference match-up is April 13 against Occidental in Los Angeles.
Joseph Lovallo can be reached at lovalloj@ulv.edu.
Joseph Lovallo
