La Verne designated hitter Jakob Thomas is caught in a rundown between second and third base during the game Saturday at Ben Hines Field against Caltech. Thomas was trying to steal third base at the same time senior first baseman Nicholas Michaels stole second base during the fourth inning, Thomas was tagged out by Caltech pitcher Minjae Kim while running to third base. The Leopards hunted down the Beavers, 4-3, while sweeping the three-game weekend series. / photo by Dorothy Gartsman
Hailey Helms
Staff Writer
La Verne baseball beat Caltech in the first game of their double header Saturday, 4-3, at Campus West.
The Leopards are currently riding a four-game winning streak in Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference play, and sit in second place.
“I think our team works great together and we have a good group of guys who are all bought into working hard,” Brandon Vogel, junior outfielder said. “We all know it’s going to take hard work throughout the season to accomplish our goals and we do a pretty good job of doing that, one day at a time.”
Just a day after defeating the Beavers 10-0, the Leopards came into the game with confidence after producing a lot of runs and shutting out the Beavers.
“I feel pretty good going into today,” senior first baseman Nicholas Michaels said. “We did a lot of good things yesterday at the plate. We pitched well, we hit well. I still think there’s some things we can improve on and that’s what we’re focusing on today.”
The top of the first inning started off strong for the Leopards as sophomore pitcher Cody Norman pounded the strike zone and put pressure on Caltech’s hitters.
Norman gave up one hit and a walk but then used a double play to get out of the inning.
La Verne put some pressure on in the bottom of the first, as Vogel was able to work a walk. Once on first he was able to advance to second base and into scoring position off of a wild pitch.
After a strikeout, Michaels came to the plate with one out. Michaels took a pitch and singled to center field and Vogel came in to score and La Verne led 1-0.
Michaels made it to second off of an error by the pitcher and got to third on the throw. As Michaels was on third sophomore catcher Adam Santa Cruz was hit by a pitch and that put runner on the corners with one out.
Senior shortstop Mauricio Guadarrama hit a sacrifice fly to center field to make it 2-0. Santa Cruz was thrown out trying to steal second to end the inning.
Caltech came into the top of the second inning with purpose, scoring three runs, causing the Leopards to fall behind 3-2 after stringing multiple hits together. The Leopards went quietly in the bottom of the second and could not close the gap.
The Leopards held the Beavers scoreless in the top of the third after letting the lead off runner get aboard, Norman got three straight outs to get La Verne back into the dugout.
Justin Thomas singled to right field with the bases empty to give La Verne a base runner. Thomas stole second to get into scoring position with one out. Michaels came to the plate and singled to left field and that put runners at first and third with one out to give the Leopards a great scoring opportunity. A wild pitch allowed Thomas to get home and even the score at 3-3.
“I hope we continue to battle in close games and find any way we can to win the close ones,” Vogel said. “After the season is over, its those close one run games that make a difference in the conference.”
In the bottom of the fifth inning, senior outfielder Grant Thompson tripled to right field to start the inning. With a runner in scoring position and nobody out, Vogel singled to right field and that gave the Leopards the lead 4-3.
Once La Verne had the lead, that was all they would need as the pitching for the Leopards held them scoreless for the rest of the game.
Senior pitcher Nick Byrd came in for relief and pitched well, closing out the game and not allowing Caltech any opportunities to score.
“We hope to get a win. They all count in the SCIAC,” head coach Scott Winterburn said. “Every year it seems to come down to one or two games, so we’re just going to try to get back out there and get another win.”
Baseball will continue SCIAC play at 2:30 p.m. Friday against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
Hailey Helms can be reached at hailey.helms@laverne.edu.