Anisa Salazar
Senior Editor
A no-hitter by freshman pitcher Jack Holguin capped off an explosive weekend for the Leopards as they swept Caltech in their three-game series, only giving up three runs and accumulating 28 total runs between their doubleheader games on Saturday.
La Verne started the weekend winning, 11-7, on April 3 at Caltech. They continued this streak during their doubleheader with a 13-3 win for game one and 15-0 win for game two on Saturday at Ben Hines Field.
“We wanted to try and get into their bullpen as soon as we could, and so having really quality at-bats in the first few innings, and making sure we stayed in the strike zone offensively,” head coach Scott Winterburn said. “We did execute that, and it created a lot of base runners, and ended up resulting in scoring some runs … It was probably the catalyst offensively for us scoring runs.”
In the first game of the doubleheader, Caltech acted quickly to put a run on the board, but the Leopards recorded two runs to counter in the bottom of the first.
The Beavers took the lead in the third inning, 3-2, but that did not last long once the Leopards caught momentum and put up six runs in the fourth inning.
With base loaded, senior second baseman Aidan Salcedo doubled with a hit to right field, bringing in the tying and go-ahead runs.
“I knew I had to put a ball in play for my team,” Salcedo said. “It was an axis spot, so I just had to get a ball in the air. I got a little bit behind it, and it kept carrying and burnt the right fielder, so I got a double out of it. In my head, I just wanted to do my job as a player and get the ball in the air to right field.”
The fourth inning rally continued with senior catcher Nate Perry clearing the bases with a triple, junior outfielder Alek Bautista hitting a sacrifice fly ball and a single to center field from junior outfielder Jake Ledford, bringing the inning to a close with Leopards taking charge, 8-3.
Between Perry’s four at-bats, he had two hits and four RBIs. It was important for him to keep the lineup moving and get the next guy an opportunity at the plate.
“I feel like we were really confident, we weren’t really worried about the umpire or external factors,” Perry said. “We just went out there and did what we needed to do.”
The Beavers’ offence was silent in the fifth inning while the Leopards recorded three more runs. RBIs from Perry, senior first baseman Aaron Whobrey and sophomore third baseman RJ Libby brought the score to 11-3.
The game ended by mercy rule after the seventh, but the Leopards did not leave without tallying two more runs for the scoreboard.
Salcedo hit his fourth double of the game in the seventh with a shot that hit the wall in left field. Perry got walked after being hit by a pitch from the Beavers, and with freshman pinch hitter Zachary Janczyk’s double to left field, both men were brought home.
Leopards closed out game one of the doubleheader with a win, 13-3, and shut out the Beavers in game two, 15-0, after Holguin threw an amazing, no-hit performance. He struck out 10 in seven innings with no walks.
Following the rest of the season, Winterburn plans to stay on top of their game and not get complacent with the confidence of their current win streak.
“We’re looking for a level of commitment from guys that they’re going to battle through confident and non-confident times,” Winterburn said. “I just think it shows us that if we play together in the way we’re capable of, we can beat anybody in the country, and we can lose to anybody in the country, so it requires our best effort each and every time.”
La Verne now has a conference record of 7-5 and will face Cal Lutheran at 3 p.m. Friday at Ben Hines Field.
Anisa Salazar can be reached at anisa.salazar@laverne.edu.
Anisa Salazar is a senior communications major with a concentration in public relations. She is sports editor, social media editor and a staff photographer for the Campus Times. She previously served as a staff writer.
Aaliyah Alamillo is a junior photography major and a staff photographer for the Campus Times and La Verne Magazine.
