THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. — #16 Cal Lutheran escaped #6 La Verne's comeback attempt in the top of the ninth inning, as Cal Lutheran took a 4-3 victory. With the win, the Kingsmen took the first game of the series and remained in first place against the second-place Leopards. 

Reigning SCIAC Pitcher of the Week Luke Wechsler started the game for Cal Lutheran and was lights out against one of the top offenses in the nation. His final line consisted of eight innings, eight strikeouts, and no earned runs. The offense did its part as Kai Caranto recorded two RBIs on one hit, and Carlos Vega tallied two hits. 

Caranto's two RBIs came early in the second inning with a single to right field, scoring Noah Matsumoto and Zach Gardner. In the fourth, Eric Gonzalez was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, which put the Kingsmen up 3-0. Later in the inning, Jona Dawson hit a sacrifice fly to score Matsumoto for Cal Lutheran's fourth run of the game.

Two costly errors from the Kingsmen defense put two Leopards on with no outs in the bottom of the ninth. La Verne capitalized and scored three runs, but Alec Garcia ended the game with a leaping grab in center field. 

The Kingsmen will look to stay on top of the SCIAC as they head to La Verne to take on the Leopards in a doubleheader tomorrow starting at 11:00 a.m.