by Amanda Stutevoss
Sports Editor
After an impressive sweep of Whittier College last weekend, the University of La Verne baseball team failed to win game two vs. Chapman University Tuesday night.
The Leopards took game one at Ben Hines Field from the Poets, 13-6.
The teams traded zeros for the first two innings of the game, until the bottom of the third when the Leopards tallied six runs on the board.
Despite an effort from the Poets in the top of the fourth scoring six runs on seven hits, the Leopards’ defense remained strong, while the Leopards’ offense kept the rally going.
The Leopards’ offense was scorching. Senior Mark Chiappelli went three for four with a grand slam that blew fans and the Poet defense away.
“When I hit it I knew it was gone,” Chiappelli said. “It was a good feeling to have, but it was even better knowing that it helped us win Friday’s game and really set the tone for the rest of the weekend.”
Sophomore Joe Scott was two for four with two RBI’s, and senior Nick Lemas went two for four with a double and an RBI.
Game two sent the Leopards to Whittier.
The Poets battled throughout but could not pull out the win, suffering their second loss to the Leopards by a score of 7-5.
Game three of the series placed sophomore Alan Sarrail on the mound for the Leopards.
Sarrail hurled an entire game forfeiting only one run to the Poets, while striking out 10 batters.
The sweep over Whittier gives the Leopards a 7-3 record in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference.
Tuesday night’s game pitted the top-ranked Panthers vs. the Leopards.
Despite obvious efforts from the Leopard’s offense, Chapman All-American pitcher Andrew Tisdale, who was on the mound for the Feb. 20 game where the Leopards defeated the Panthers 6-3, shut the Leopards down, striking out 12 through seven innings.
“The last game that we faced him, we got his pitch count up early,” Chiappelli said. “We were impatient at the plate this game.”
“Tisdale throws an above average fastball,” senior Nick Lemas said. “Good pitching beats good hitting.”
An offense surge from the Leopards in the ninth inning proved to be too late.
In spite of obvious efforts – sophomore Pete Hanson had a two run home run, junior Ray Podesta went two-for-five and senior A.J. Garbick went two-for-three with one RBI – the Leopards were defeated by a score of 11-5.
The Leopards stand at 18-9 thus far this season, and 7-3 in conference, with the only losses being a sweep, the Leopards suffered in early March to SCIAC leader Pomona-Pitzer.
“We definitely can’t afford to lose a conference game; we need to sweep Redlands and Cal Lu,” Lemas said.
The Leopards compete against the University of Redlands Bulldogs today at 3 p.m. at Ben Hines Field. The Bulldogs are 5-5 in conference play.
