PASADENA, Calif. – Caltech Baseball welcomed the University of La Verne Leopards to North Field Saturday for a doubleheader. The Beavers put up a valiant effort, but fell short in both games to the No. 5-ranked team in NCAA Division III.
Sophomore Joseph Pieper (Palatine, Ill. / Palatine) started the first game for Caltech and quickly found himself in a bit of trouble. Three straight La Verne hitters singled to load the bases with no outs. The next batter, Noah Garcia, hit a line drive right at third baseman Mark Hu (San Jose, Calif. / The Harker School), who gloved it in the air and promptly stepped on third base for an unassisted double play. Pieper got the next batter to fly out to Jack Fishel (Baltimore, Md. / Boys' Latin School of Maryland) in center field, escaping the early jam.
Pieper dominated the next two innings; he sat down the Leopards in order in both the second and third innings. In the fourth, La Verne designated hitter Nathan Perry led off with his first home run of the season, and Garcia and Nolan Anguiano both hit doubles in the inning to put the Beavers behind 2-0.
A single in the bottom half of the fourth by designated hitter Jack Bernhardt (Littleton, Colo. / Columbine) denied Leopards pitcher Matthew DesMartes a no-hitter, but La Verne added on three runs in both the fifth and sixth inning to put the game out of reach.
Junior Brendan Flaherty (Narragansett, RI / Lake Forest Academy) started game two of the Saturday doubleheader, and similar to Pieper in game one, Flaherty was locked in early. Flaherty kept the Leopards' offense in check through the first six innings, as he gave up just four hits. Flaherty didn't allow a run through the first six innings and struck out four batters in that span.
The Beavers, on the other hand, got on the board first. In the second inning, Hu got on base after being hit by a pitch. Thorsen Kristufek (McKinney, Texas / McKinney) ripped a single into right field and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. With only one out in the inning, catcher Edward Speer (Austin, Texas / Leander) grounded into a fielder's choice to score Hu from third and give the Beavers an early 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, the Beavers scored another run. Once again, Kristufek got the action started as he reached on an error. Speer laid down a beautiful sacrifice bunt to move Kristufek to second, and with two outs in the inning, left fielder Levi Alderete (Murrieta, Calif. / Murrieta Mesa) came in clutch with a run-scoring single. That put the Beavers up 2-0, but they ran into trouble later that game.
In the top of the seventh inning, La Verne responded. The Leopards put up two runs and knocked Flaherty out the game before he could finish the inning. Instead, Coach Whitehead turned to Jacob Alderete (Murrieta, Calif. / Murrieta Mesa) to get Caltech out of a bases loaded situation. With two outs, Alderete got the hitter to chase and struck him out swinging.
The next game for Coach Whitehead and the Beavers will be Friday, April 11 when they host Whittier College at 3 p.m. for the first game of a three-game set. The Beavers will then travel to Whittier for a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 11 a.m.
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