La Verne has captured the 2008 SCIAC Championship by completing a sweep over defending champ Pomona-Pitzer by scores of 7-4 and 13-3 Saturday in Claremont. The Leopards (25-14-1) also received help from Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who swept Redlands in its doubleheader to knock the Bulldogs-who began the day in first place-out of championship contention.

In the opener, La Verne spotted the Sagehens a 4-0 lead before posting two runs in both the fourth and fifth innings to draw even as Mike Belcher's two-run single in the fourth was followed an inning later by a two-run single by Trevor Boucher. La Verne went up for good in the sixth on an RBI double from Jack Mehl that scored catcher Ryan Jordan. La Verne scored single runs in the seventh and eighth innings while holding the Sagehens scoreless over the final six frames. Pitcher Jimmy Wilfong provided solid relief with 4 1/3 shutout innings while Grant Wheatley worked the ninth to earn the save.

The second game saw the Leopard offense collect 13 runs on 12 hits while also benefiting from four Pomona-Pitzer errors. Mike Moretti started the attack in the top of the third with a three-run homer to stake the Leopards to a 3-0 advantage. Leading 4-0 entering the fifth, La Verne erupted for five runs as two Sagehen errors led to four unearned runs. The Sagehens scored twice in the bottom of the fifth to cut the deficit to 8-2 but the Leopards responded with three more runs in the top of the sixth to put the game out of reach as Jordan, Eddie Kalankiewicz and Mark Larini each drove in a run to give La Verne an 11-2 advantage.