College Baseball:

The magical 2023 season for the University of La Verne will be extended for at least one more week.

Two weeks after clinching their first SCIAC title in five years, the Leopards claimed the Birmingham (Alabama) NCAA Division 3 Regional by going 3-1.

ULV edged Franklin, 8-7, on Friday.

The Leopards would make it two in a row after Saturday’s 19-4 drubbing of Lewis & Clark, and they needed just one win on Sunday to earn a spot in the D-3 Super Regional.

Birmingham Southern would temporarily derail Scott Winterburn’s program with its 12-11 victory in 10 innings.

But with their backs against the wall, La Verne would pound out a 12-0 lead, and held on for a 15-10 triumph over Birmingham Southern.

In game one, Franklin scored four runs in the top of the third and led 5-0.

The Leopards, though, would get three in the third, two in the seventh and three in the eighth to prevail, 8-7.

Ethan Galindo went the first three innings and allowed six runs on five hits.

Ryan McLernon earned the win, going five innings and allowing one run on two hits.

Benny Vogel got the save after his scoreless ninth inning in relief.

Sean Sullivan went 2-for-5 with a home run, scored twice and had two RBIs.

AJ Sanders singled, doubled and scored.

Tysen Lipscomb singled twice and had an RBI.

Noah Wood doubled, tripled, scored and had one RBI.

Luke Willmann hit a solo HR.

Jackson Young took the loss, allowing eight runs on nine hits over seven innings.

Young walked two and fanned six ULV batters.

Cameron Slessor walked, had a two-run single and a two-run double.

Anthony Salcedo went 2-for-4, with a walk, run and RBI.

Malachi Francois hit a solo HR.

Matthew Diaz singled twice and scored.

Benny Vogel singled and scored.

Ryan Vosika singled, scored twice and had one RBI.

Chase Siffert walked twice and scored.

In game two, La Verne crushed Lewis & Clark, 19-4.

The Leopards had a 16-0 lead in the top of the fifth and out-hit their opponents, 15-7.

Gerald Terry earned the win, going seven innings and allowing one run on three hits.

Terry walked four and struck out nine.

Jack Thomson walked twice, singled, hit a solo HR and scored twice.

Brennen Davis walked, doubled, scored and drove in one.

Mason Lee had a two-run double in the eighth inning.

Jack Savant singled and scored.

Luke Ritter got the loss after surrendering nine runs (eight earned) on seven hits.

Ritter went 3 1/3 innings, walked three and fanned one.

Ryan Harvey was charged with eight unearned runs on six hits over 2 1/3 innings.

Matthew Diaz went 2-for-6 with a two-run HR and scored three times.

Malachi Francois walked, had a two-run double, a sac fly and scored three runs.

Anthony Salcedo drew three walks, singled twice, scored three runs and drove in one.

Chase Siffert walked, singled, doubled, drove in a pair and scored three times.

Cameron Slessor walked, singled, scored twice and had an RBI.

Noah Garcia went 3-for-7, with a run and two RBIs.

Logan Reese walked twice, singled, scored a pair of runs and had two RBIs.

Ryan Vosika drew a pair of walks, singled, drove in a run and scored twice.

Nathan Perry singled twice in the win.

In game three, Birmingham Southern scored three runs in the top of the ninth and twice more in the 10th to edge the Leopards, 12-11.

Luke Jones went four innings, allowing one run on one hit to earn the win.

Jones walked a pair and fanned four ULV batters.

Joey White got the final two outs to earn the save.

Matthew Diaz went 2-for-3, with a walk, single, triple, two RBIs and scored one run.

Noah Garcia singled twice, doubled and scored a pair of runs.

Nathan Perry walked, singled, doubled, scored twice and had two RBIs.

Malachi Francois singled and scored.

Logan Reese singled, drove in a pair and scored twice.

Benny Vogel was saddled with the loss after allowing five runs on six hits over four innings.

Vogel walked three and struck out three.

Birmingham Southern scored those four runs (in ninth and 10th innings) with three home runs.

Jackson Webster hit a two-run shot in the ninth, and Jakob Zito tied the game with a solo HR.

In the 10th, Ian Hancock hit a two-run HR.

Cam McNearney doubled twice and scored.

Wesley Diamantis went 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs and three RBIs.

In game four, and as mentioned, ULV got out to a huge lead.

They scored nine runs in the top of the second inning and led 12-0 in the fourth.

The Leopards out-hit Birmingham Southern, 19-14, and took advantage of four Cougars’ errors.

Joey White got the loss.

White surrendered five runs on six hits and a walk over 1 2/3 innings.

The Leopards would get four runs (none earned) on three hits off Hansen McCown, and they scored three more against Davis Williams on four hits and a walk.

Nathan Perry singled, scored three times, had an RBI double and a two-run HR.

Matthew Diaz went 4-for-6, scored twice, had an RBI single and a two-run blast.

Chase Siffert walked, singled three times, doubled, scored and had an RBI.

Cameron Slessor drew a pair of walks, singled, doubled, had an RBI and scored twice.

Logan Reese went 2-for-5 with a run and three RBIs.

Noah Garcia singled three times, scored twice and drove in one.

Anthony Salcedo walked, singled and scored.

Malachi Francois walked twice and scored a pair of runs.

Chase Pederson went the first 3 2/3 and allowed four runs on five hits.

He walked four and fanned three.

Ryan McLernon was credited with the win after going two innings and surrendering one run on three hits.

McLernon didn’t issue a walk and struck out two.

Ethan Galindo provided 2 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on four hits and striking out one.

Ian Wong was touched up for two runs on two hits before Garrett Halbeisen got the final three outs, including one via strikeout.

Cam McNearney walked, had an RBI single, three-run double and a sac fly.

Jackson Webster singled, doubled, homered, scored three runs and drove in a pair.

Jack Fleming went 2-for-5 with an HR and two RBIs.

Will Lantis singled four times and scored three runs.

Noah Best singled twice and scored.

Andrew Dutton drew three walks and scored once.

Over the weekend, ULV scored 53 runs on 53 hits, including four home runs, one triple, eight doubles and the boys in green drew 27 walks.

Up next: The Leopards will travel to Jackson (Texas) this week to battle East Texas Baptist University in a best-of-three super regional.

Lastly, I asked La Verne Coach Scott Winterburn to touch on his program’s perseverance through that four-game grind in three days.

Said Scott Winterburn: “We came in knowing it was a tough regional. Birmingham Southern at home as host, they’ve been No. 1 in the country for most of the year until the last few weeks. Lewis and Clark can really hit and has had a great year, as did Franklin.

Really, Gerald Terry has been our anchor all year, along with Bennett Vogel as a closer, who is among the country’s leaders in saves.

We knew we’d have to generate offense and we really did this weekend. We were pretty relentless offensively and forced the issue. It is what we needed. It is always tough to win these tournaments, because it isn’t something you can just figure out ahead of time. You need timely contributions, because you’re going to be dealing with fatigue as these tournaments can go deep into your team and bench. All I can say is this was a total team effort. Pitching, defense, base running, offense big and small. It was really special for me personally to watch it happen and unfold.”

Game One Box Score:
F: 0-1-4-1-0-0-1-0-0-(7)
LV: 0-0-3-0-0-0-2-3-X-(8)

Win: Ryan McLernon
Loss: Jackson Young

HR: Sean Sullivan (F), Luke Willmann (F); Malachi Francois (LV)
3B: Noah Wood (F)
2B: AJ Sanders (F), Noah Wood (F); Cameron Slessor (LV)

Records: Franklin (33-12); La Verne (29-15)

Game Two Box Score:
LV: 4-1-2-2-7-0-3-0-0-(19)
LC: 1-0-0-0-0-0-0-3-0-(4)

Win: Gerald Terry
Loss: Luke Ritter

HR: Matthew Diaz (LV); Jack Thomson (LC)
2B: Chase Siffert (LV), Malachi Francois (LV); Brennen Davis (LC), Mason Lee (LC)

Records: La Verne (30-15); Lewis & Clark (31-13)

Game Three Box Score:
BS: 1-2-4-0-0-0-0-0-3-2-(12)
LV: 0-0-0-5-3-2-0-0-0-1-(11)

Win: Luke Jones
Loss: Benny Vogel
Save: Joey White

HR: Ian Hancock (BS), Jackson Webster (BS), Jakob Zito (BS), Wesley Diamantis (BS)
3B: Matthew Diaz (LV)
2B: Cam McNearney (BS) 2; Noah Garcia (LV), Nathan Perry (LV)

Records: Birmingham Southern (39-10); La Verne (30-16)

Game Four Box Score:
LS: 0-9-0-3-2-0-0-1-0-(15)
BS: 0-0-0-4-0-1-1-1-3-(10)

Win: Ryan McLernon
Loss: Joey White

HR: Nathan Perry (LV), Matthew Diaz (LV); Jackson Webster (BS), Jack Fleming (BS)
2B: Nathan Perry (LV), Chase Siffert (LV), Cameron Slessor (LV); Cam McNearney (BS), Jackson Webster (BS)

Records: La Verne (31-16); Birmingham Southern (39-11)