WHITTIER, Calif. ­­-- A week after sweeping La Verne in a three-game Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) series, Cal Lutheran couldn't get the bats going in a 5-2 loss to the Leopards Saturday afternoon. The loss halts Cal Lutheran's winning streak at 14 games. The Kingsmen were also held to season-lows in runs and hits.

Cal Lutheran took an initial lead when it scored in the first inning thanks to a lead-off single by Jake Petersen and an RBI-ground out from Trevor Koons.

Unfortunately for the Kingsmen, La Verne pushed across two runs in the first inning to go up 2-1. After the first two Leopard runners walked to start the bottom of the second inning, La Verne went up by two after a Nick Bergara ground-out. A batter later, George Hanna lined a double into left-center to put La Verne up 4-2.

La Verne starting pitcher Kevin Knight would go on to retire nine of the next 10 CLU batters he saw.

The Kingsmen threatened in the top of the sixth inning when Garrett Smith led off with a double and Petersen followed that with a walk. After a sacrifice bunt from Nicho DellaValle moved the runners into scoring position, Koons notched his second RBI-ground out of the day to bring the lead back down to three runs. Knight buckled down however, getting the SCIAC's homerun leader Nick Boggan, to fly-out and escape the inning without any further damage.

Cal Lutheran had one final chance in the top of the ninth when they loaded the bases with only one out thanks to two walks and one single but Knight got a strike out and foul out to end the game and give the Leopards a crucial win as they pulled even with Redlands for the fourth and final spot in the SCIAC Post Season Tournament.

CLU starting pitcher Tyler Hebda (7-3) suffered the loss after allowing four runs on seven hits in 5.0 innings of work. Morgan Garcia-Grisham closed out the game for the Kingsmen, tossing the final 3.0 innings.

Petersen was 2-for-3 with a run scored, upping his SCIAC-leading average to .484. Nick DeLorenzo and Mike Vinyard had the other hits for CLU.

Knight (6-3) earned the complete-game win, scattering five hits and allowing two runs.

Bergara and Hanna led the Leopards with two hits and RBI each.

Cal Lutheran (29-7-1, 22-4 SCIAC) closes out its regular season Sunday, April 28, with a split doubleheader. The Kingsmen open with Chapman at 11:00 a.m. and then host Caltech at 3:00 p.m. The program's eight seniors will be honored before the Caltech game.

Box Score: ULV 5 CLU 2
Facebook: www.facebook.com/clusports