THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - After dropping the series opener at La Verne on Friday 5-4, the Cal Lutheran baseball team got a pair of strong pitching performances and clutch at-bats on Saturday to sweep past the Leopards 3-1 and 2-1 on Senior Day at Ullman Stadium.
In the final regular season Saturday doubleheader at home, CLU recognized seniors Collin Crowl, Spencer DuBois, Nico Filice, Scott Peters and Chris Whitmer before the game for their contributions to the baseball program over the years. All four senior position players made it a day to remember as each one came up with at least one hit.
During the game, starting pitchers Trey Saito and Marshall Pautsch made contributions of their own, holding the Leopards to just two earned runs in 13 innings of work while Evan Peterson and Landry Kiyabu combined for five scoreless innings out of the bullpen.
In game one, La Verne scraped a run across in the third inning to take a 1-0 lead and starting pitcher Mark Jebbia stifled the Kingsmen hitters, allowing just two hits and striking out six in 7.1 innings.
CLU managed to break into the Leopards bullpen in the eighth inning and load the bases for Gabe Gunter, who came through with a bases-clearing double to give the Kingsmen a 3-1 lead.
Kiyabu notched two strikeouts in the ninth to earn the save and secure the game one win. Gunter finished 2-for-3 to lead CLU at the plate while Whitmer and Sinjin Todd provided the only other hits in the game.
Game two featured a similar storyline, with the Leopards taking an early lead and limiting the Kingsmen at the plate. Cal Lutheran matched La Verne with eight hits in the game but struggled to score and stranded 11 runners on base.
The Violet and Gold finally broke through in the seventh inning after Filice led off the inning with a single through the right side. Justin Caña traded places with Filice after grounding into a fielder's choice, but promptly stole second to move into scoring position. DuBois followed with an infield single, and Kyle Sanchez hit a laser up the middle to bring home Caña and tie the game at 1-1.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Crowl came up clutch with a liner just fair down the third base line, scoring Davey Casciola from first base to give CLU a 2-1 lead.
That was enough for Kiyabu, who shut the door once again with two more strikeouts in the ninth and tallied his fifth save of the season. Peterson was the beneficiary of the late offense from the Kingsmen and earned both victories on the day to improve to 6-1 this season with a 2.79 ERA.
Sanchez led the Kingsmen at the dish in game two, finishing 3-for-4 while DuBois and Filice both went 2-for-4.
Cal Lutheran (22-10, 14-7 SCIAC) is back in action this Friday, Apr. 17 when they take on Occidental at Ullman Stadium at 3:00 p.m.
Box Score: LV 5, CLU 4
Box Score: CLU 3, LV 1
Box Score: CLU 2, LV 1
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