La Verne clinches conference title

photo by Caroline Franke

Senior outfielder Daniel Soriano bats for the University of La Verne baseball team on a hot Friday afternoon in a game at Ben Hines Field against the California Institute of Technology. The Leopards defeated the Beavers, 26-2.

by Mike Myers
Staff Writer

The University of La Verne baseball team clinched its first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title in nine years after destroying the visiting Caltech Beavers, 26-2, last Friday at Ben Hines Field.

The Leopards (25-9, 13-2 SCIAC) clinched the title as second-place Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (20-17, 9-6 SCIAC) was swept 6-4 and 12-0 in a doubleheader Saturday, at Whittier.

Thus, the Stags fell four conference games out of first place behind ULV with three games to play, assuring the Leopards of the conference crown.

This will be ULV’s 17th baseball title in school history.

“It feels good going into the last series of conference knowing that we have clinched the SCIAC title,” junior catcher B.J. DuBarry said.

The Leopards’ last SCIAC title occurred in 1995, when the Leopards finished a perfect 21-0 in conference play en route to a NCAA Division III national championship.

The Leopards started things off Friday with eight runs in the bottom of the first inning as 11 hitters got up to bat.

They continued the rally in the bottom of the second inning by scoring three more runs, making the score 11-0 after two innings of play.

The Leopards continued to perform well at the plate, as usual this season.

Multiple Leopards had a multi-hit game, as most players got to play.

Senior outfielder Mike Kelly went 5 for 6 with six RBIs. Sophomore Jason House went 2 for 3 with one RBI. Senior catcher Garrett Riojas went 3 for 3 with two RBIs and senior outfielder Joe Scott went 4 for 5 with four RBIs, all contributing to the win.

“We came into this game with the same attitude as all the other games,” head coach Scott Winterburn said.

The momentum stayed with the Leopards, as they continued to thump the Beavers, putting more runs on the board.

Starting freshman pitcher Mark Simmons, of La Verne, pitched two solid innings for the Leopards and recorded three strike-outs.

Another freshman pitcher, Matt Young, also had a solid outing, picking up where Simmons left off.

“We don’t have one or two guys that are playing well this season, we have a group of guys day in and day out that are playing well,” Winterburn said. “We are hitting better and we are finishing more complete games that are getting us wins.”

The Leopards will meet CMS in a three-game series beginning today to close out the regular season of play before competing in the NCAA Division III West Regional action.

“This is a very important week for us to gain momentum going into the playoffs,” senior pitcher Alan Sarrail said.