Baseball sweeps Caltech in 3 games
Campus Times
February 21, 1997
Clawing and roaring their way back to contention, the University of
La Verne Leopards streaked past Caltech in three straight games to complete
a series sweep of the Beavers.
The doubleheader took place on Saturday, Feb. 15 at Caltech in Pasadena.
The Leopards broke open the first game in the third inning with a stolen
base by second baseman Lyle Miller, singles by catcher David Riffle (.684
batting average, leads Leopards) and right fielder Seth Marrs. Armando Hernandez,
RBI leader for the Leopards (9), and Eric Britton added doubles to complete
the six run inning.
Pitcher Gary Griffith picked up his first win of the season and struck
out four as La Verne was victorious, 18-3. La Verne is now on a current
three game winning streak, 3-5 overall and 3-0 in the Southern California
Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC).
"We're coming together now. It took a while to get the team settled
down, but I think we're finally reaching that point. The majority of the
players are new," said 14 year ULV head coach Owen Wright.
ULV was even more merciless in the second game of the doubleheader,
shutting out the Beavers, 17-0.
Hernandez, Marrs and Riffle added three consecutive singles in the first
inning that led to a four-run inning for the Leopards. Riffle and Hernandez
added their second singles in the second inning as the Beavers trailed 7-0
after only two innings of play.
Junior pitcher Maynard McClarrinon pitched a complete game for the Leopards,
allowing only two hits and striking out eight. ULV put the game away for
good in the eighth courtesy of Hernandez and Britton singles and a triple
by freshman Andrew Davis.
The best hitting Caltech managed in the second game of the doubleheader
was two hits.
Friday's game, the day before, produced much of the same results even
though the game was played at Ben Hines Field. It only took the Leopards
three innings to establish a 12-0 lead. Leopard senior Sean Caldwell pitched
seven innings, recording seven strikeouts and received his first victory
of the season. Shortstop Brock Whobrey's single in the first inning sparked
La Verne to a 2-0 advantage. Marrs added key doubles in the first and second
innings.
In the third inning, freshman David LaPeer kept the heat on Beaver pitcher
Jon Allen with a solo smash to record the only homerun of the game. ULV
added five more runs for an 18-3 shellacking of Caltech.
"What had backtracked us was the inability to score runs. Now our
offense is becoming consistent. I look forward to the team improving game
by game and being a contender for the conference championship," said
Wright
The Leopards will strike into action at 2:30 p.m. today at Pomona-Pitzer
to combat the Sagehens. The same two teams will play a doubleheader 11:15
a.m. tomorrow at Ben Hines Field.