AZUSA, Calif. – SCIAC Athlete of the Year
Alex Henderson hit a two-out two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to tie the score 4-4, but La Verne was able to break the tie in the ninth as the Leopards were able to knock off the top-seeded Claremont-Mudd-Scripps baseball team 6-4 on Thursday afternoon at Cougar Stadium.
The Stags slip to 29-12 on the year, but remain alive in the double-elimination tournament and will face Redlands tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Azusa Pacific in an elimination game. La Verne, which defeated Chapman yesterday 2-1 in a single-elimination 4-5 game, will play at Pomona-Pitzer tomorrow at 3 p.m. in a winner's bracket contest, after the Sagehens earned an 11-1 win over Redlands.
CMS got on the board in the bottom of the first, when
Rider Gordon singled and came home on an RBI single from
Dillon Martin to make the score 1-0. The Leopards went ahead 2-1 in the top of the fourth, but the Stags came back in the bottom half to tie it.
Max Pemberton got on board with a bunt single, went to third on a double from
Blaise Heher, and came home on an RBI single from
Josh Jacobs.
Bryce Didrickson tripled in the fifth, but Henderson's liner to shortstop was snagged and the Leopards were able to escape with the score 2-2. After La Verne scored twice in the sixth, Henderson came through with an opposite field two-run shot in the seventh to knot the score up a 4-4.
La Verne was able to string together four singles in the ninth to take the 6-4 lead, and Nico Hamilton came out of the bullpen to get the save with three straight strikeouts.
CMS will look to stay alive tomorrow against Redlands and make it through to Saturday for a second elimination game. The Stags will need to win four straight (once on Friday, twice on Saturday, and once on Sunday) to win the league title.
