In a come from behind victory, the University of La Verne baseball team defeated the Cal Lutheran College Kingsmen, 6-5, yesterday in the opening game of the West Regional playoffs to take a 1-0 lead in the best of five series.
With the conference title won and a monumental 21-0 conference season behind them, the ULV baseball team swung into its final weekend of play before the NCAA Division III playoffs in two and a half weeks.
It had never been done by a La Verne team or a SCIAC team. It was not even done by the 1972 squad that La Verne Hall of Famer Ben Hines coached to the NAIA National Championship. However, the 1995 La Verne baseball team captured a perfect 21-0 conference record by sweeping a three-game series against Claremont-Mudd, on its way to its first conference championship in 11 years, by defeating the Stags 5-7, 2-0 and 19-6.