Kelly Rivas

Fielding a line drive down the third base line, junior Trevor Boucher keeps the ball in play and the hitter to a single. The Leopards were hanging on by a nail at the bottom of the ninth down by one run to Occidental. Brad Licher hit a two -run homer at the bottom of the ninth to win their first SCIAC game of the season. The Leopards defeated the Tigers 6-5 on Feb. 23 at Ben Hines Field.

Galo Pesantes
Sports Editor

A rocky pre-conference schedule did not faze the Leopard baseball team as they emerged with three straight victories over Occidental in conference games on Feb. 23-24.

La Verne started the three- game series at home at Ben Hines Field by sending senior starter Mark Simmons to the mound against the Tigers.

Simmons did not have his best outing by giving up 8 hits in six innings of work but struck out eight batters in his efforts.

In the seventh inning,
sophomore Grant Wheatley had his best performance of the season in a relief appearance.
Wheatley shut down the Tiger offense in giving up a lone hit in three innings and three
strikeouts in picking up his first win of the season.

The Leopard bats also came through when needed with RBIs in the game by outfielder Brandon Mikkleson, catcher Scott Marcus, and outfielder Daniel Talbot.

However, the biggest runs for the Leopards came in the final inning of play.

After pinch hitting for left fielder Dimitre Mondette in the seventh inning, junior Brad Licher came up huge for the Leopards in the last inning.

Following a single by Talbot, Licher stepped up to the plate and hit a two-run walk-off home run to win the game in dramatic fashion, 6-5.

“Definitely, it was unexpected,” said Licher. “It was a flash call and I was trying to bunt, but I ended it up hitting it.”

Still, the home run seemed to not only sparked the Leopards during Friday’s game but also led to a pair of wins in the Saturday doubleheader at Occidental.

La Verne began the opening game with a run in the first inning by Marcus to lead in the early going, 1-0.

Left hander Sal Diaz got the start for the Leopards and was a major part of the success against Occidental in game one.

Diaz pitched masterfully for seven innings, holding the Tigers to only two runs on five hits in seven innings of work.

In the eighth inning, freshman pitcher David Contreras relieved Diaz for the last two innings in sealing the game for the Leopards.

In addition to the exceptional pitching, the Leopards unleashed an offensive assault against the Tigers.

Second baseman Daniel Constanza and Marcus led the way for the Leopards with six RBIs combined while catcher Ryan Jordan and shortstop Mehl added 2 RBIs each.

After the 15-2 win in the first game, the Leopards continued to succeed in game two with Jon-Michael Hattabaugh taking the spotlight.

The freshman first baseman hit two singles as well as a two run home run in the ninth inning to finish the game with an impressive 3-for-4 outing.
In addition, Licher kept his hot bat going in finishing 3-for-5 during game two.

Pitching was also instrumental in the win for the Leopards in the second game.

Junior Ryan Rose took the mound for ULV and looked to gain his first victory of the season.

Yet like Simmons, Rose gave up eight hits in six innings but also struck out four Tigers and gave up only two walks to Occidental.

The bullpen then closed out the game and got the win for Rose and the Leopards.

The combination of junior Jimmy Wilfong and freshman Tim Jolly struck out three and allowed only two hits in the eighth and ninth innings, leading the Leopards to victory in the final game, 7-4.

“It was a good day all together,” said Mehl. “We finally got out all the facets of the game working all together. Our pitching stepped up and we finally got our offense rolling.”

Many on the team continue to believe that Licher’s home run was significant in getting conference play started right for La Verne.

“It was a great, great way to start the season by sweeping Oxy,” said Simmons. “It puts pressure on a lot of teams for the rest of the season.”

The Leopards have now improved to 4-6 overall and an impressive 3-0 start in conference play.

Next up for the Leopards is Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who will host La Verne today at 2:30 p.m. at Arce Field.

The team will then return home tomorrow for a doubleheader against the Stags with the first pitch at 11 a.m.

Galo Pesantes can be reached at gpesantes@ulv.edu.