Cheryl Regan
Staff Writer
It was a short day on Friday, as the Leopards took on the 0-18 Caltech Beavers at Ben Hines Field, dominating 14-1 in a seven inning game.
Starting pitcher senior Mark Larini got the win as he pitched five innings, holding Caltech to only four hits in the game.
“I went out there and tried to throw strikes,” Larini said. “We did what we needed to do.”
The Leopards were up 1-0 going in the bottom of the third as Jason Munoz led off with a triple.
“Our main focus is that this is a conference series,” Jason Munoz said.
“We have to have the same mentality as we do in every game. We have to do what we have been doing all year.”
The Leopards scored five runs in the inning after a single to right field by senior designated hitter Joe Buckley and two errors by Caltech that gave La Verne three unearned runs.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Leopards scored four more run, led by a two-run homerun by Buckley.
“I just tried to put the ball in the gap and it went a little farther.” Buckley said. “I went out there trying not to do too much, I was trying to do what the situation called for.”
After the homerun the bases were loaded after Sergio Munoz and Cody Hazel were hit by pitches and Ross Herbert walked.
Jason Moralez hit a sacrifice fly ball that scored a run. George Hanna reached on a fielder’s choice that scored the fourth run of the inning.
The bases were loaded in the bottom of the fifth when Beavers’ pitcher Scott Yantek threw a wild pitch that scored sophomore outfielder Dylan Leong.
The Beavers had two more errors in the inning which led the Leopards scoring three more runs.
The Beavers only run of the game came in the sixth after Caltech’s Eric Schropp walked and Daniel Sexton hit a RBI double.
Caltech was held to only four hits and one run.
La Verne scored their final run in sixth inning to bring the final score to 14-1.
The Saturday doubleheader was not much different as the Leopards won 23-2 in seven innings in the first game, and 12-0 in seven innings in the second.
The Leopards have one more three-game series starting at 3 p.m. today against fourth place Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in Claremont.
The series will continue with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. followed by game two at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Ben Hines Field.
La Verne goes into the weekend tied for first place with Redlands with a 14-4 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference record and a 19-10 overall record.
After the series, the Leopards will take on each team in the conference once more, four at home and three on the road.
Cheryl Regan can be reached at cheryl.regan@laverne.edu.