La Verne, CA: Leopards pounce on the Eagles in a two-game sweep Wednesday night, scoring 20 runs in a 12-6 win and 8-0 mercy win. 

Game One

Bridgewater University came out swinging and scored 6 runs in the first 3 innings of the game. Luckily for La Verne, their offense was ready to compete, scoring 5 runs in the first 3 innings. Taylor Gray hit a two-run homer in the first inning to start the offense out and Kat Navarro hit a solo bomb to dead centerfield in the third inning to bring the Leoaprds within one run, 6-5. Katelyn Shephard entered the game in the 3rd inning and gave up one run but settled in after that cruising for 3 consecutive scoreless innings after that to keep the Eagles at bay. The Leopards offensive outburst continued, scoring runs in every inning they batted. La Verne scored 4 runs in the 4th inning to take a 9-6 lead and tacked on 3 more runs in the next two innings combined to win the game 12-6. Kat Navarro came in to pitch in the 7th inning and got the final three outs, including two strikeouts. 

Game Two 

La Verne offensively continued to score, jumping on the Eagles starter early, scoring 4 runs in the first two innings to take a commanding 4-0 lead. Hailee Reinert provided the power for La Verne, hitting a solo homer in the 2nd inning. With the Leopards leading 4-0 in the 5th, Reinert promptly doubled in Jillian Gellatly to make it 5-0 La Verne. Bailey Grani extended the Leopards lead to 6 runs in the 5th inning when she hit a sacrifice fly to score Marissa Acosta. La Verne scored two runs in the 6th inning to reach the mercy rule and end the game early winning 8-0. Allison Thompson drove in Haylee Hsieh and Nat Aguilera drove in Jelena Aguon with a game winning single into center field. 

Offensive Standouts

Nat Aguilera led La Verne offensively, going 6-7 at the plate while scoring a run and driving in three. Hailee Reinert went 4-6 over the two games, hitting a homerun, scoring three runs, and knocking in a pair of runs. Taylor Gray hit her first homer of the season while scoring three runs and driving in three runs. Haylee Hsieh set the tone at the top of the order collecting two hits, walking three times and scoring four runs. 

Pitching Standouts

Katelyn Shephard shutdown the Eagles offense out of relief, going 4 innings allowing only one run and picking up her first win of the season. Kat Navarro pitched for the first time in two seasons and struck out two batters in one inning of relief. Rachel Rubio improved to 6-0 on the season while picking up her second shutout of the season. 

Season Impact 

The University of La Verne Leopards are now 8-2 on the season. They next play on Tuesday at Campus West for a double header at 3:00 and 5:00 PM against WPI.