No. 11 Oxy Completes La Verne Sweep

More news about: Occidental

LOS ANGELES — Devon DeRaad continued his monster day at the plate as the No. 11 Occidental baseball team made it 21 wins in its last 22 games with a 8-2 victory over La Verne at Anderson Field on Saturday.

Season Impact: The Tigers with their eighth in a row, improving to 23-5 overall and are at the top of the SCIAC standings at 18-3.

La Verne falls to 16-13 and 9-9.

From the Coach: "It was good to get the wins, but we need to clean a few things up and focus on getting better," Oxy head coach Luke Wetmore said. "I'm proud of our guys for fighting through the elements. We pitched well and out defense was on point in sloppy conditions."

DeRaad, who had two doubles and had five RBIs in Game 1 of the doubleheader, went 2 for 3 with his ninth home run of the season, two runs scored and three RBIs in Game 2. Oxy's single season home run champ finished the three game series 7 for 13 with a home run, two doubles, nine RBIs and six runs scored.

DeRaad is leading the conference in home runs (8), RBIs (36), on base percentage (.556) and slugging percentage (.885).

Oxy leadoff hitter Brady Fuller hasn't been easy to get out this season either. The senior was 2 for 3 with two runs scored and is second in the SCIAC with a .525 on base percentage.

Charlie Caccamo was 1 for 3 with a run, Bryan Smith was 1 for 2 with an RBI and a run scored, andReid Gibbs went 2 for 2 with an RBI, a run scored and a pair of walks for Oxy. 

Oxy starter Nolan Watson earned victory, striking out three with two earned runs, in five innings of work.

Pomona-Pitzer starter Alex Bernstein was charged with the loss. 

The game was called in the top of the seventh due to rain and field conditions, so it ends officially as a six-inning contest.

The Tigers outscored La Verne 28-6 over three games for their fifth SCIAC sweep. The Tigers have swept Caltech, Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, Pomona-Pitzer and Whittier already this season.

Next Game: Oxy plays a three-game series against Puget Sound next weekend before returning to SCIAC play against second-place Cal Lutheran (19-8, 13-3 SCIAC) on April 22. 

Chasing History: Oxy is chasing the program's first SCIAC Championship since 1982 and looking to get back to the SCIAC Postseason Tournament. 

7 Remaining SCIAC Games:

4/22 - Cal Lutheran (13-3 SCIAC)

4/23 - at Cal Lutheran

4/23 -at Cal Lutheran

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** the final four regular season SCIAC games are determined by standings at that point in the season **

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