BIRMINGHAM, Ala.—Lewis & Clark College baseball fell into an early hole and couldn't overcome the hot-hitting of the University of La Verne in a 19-4 winner's bracket contest on Saturday in game four of the NCAA Division III Baseball Regional. 
 
THE BASICS
La Verne 19, Lewis & Clark 4
(Lewis & Clark 31-13) 
(La Verne 30-15) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
 
Senior Jack Thomson reached base three times and senior Mason Lee hit a pinch-hit, two-run double to lead the Pioneers offensively. Thomson hit a solo home run, his third homer of the regional in the first, and added a line-drive single and a walk in his first three trips. He finished the game with two of the Pioneers four runs scored. Lee came on in the bottom of the eighth and drove in Thomson and sophomore Brennen Davis to make it 19-4. 
 
Davis added an RBI double and a run scored and Savant chipped in a single and a run scored. Junior John Delaney (pinch-hit) and sophomore Will Heron accounted for the other two Pioneers hits. 
 
The Pioneers pitchers struggled to slow down a La Verne lineup that scored five runs in their final two at-bats on Friday against Franklin College. The Leopards racked up 15 hits (12 singles, two doubles and a home run) and added 11 walks and two hit by pitches. 
 
Sophomore Luke Ritter got the start for the Pioneers and was tagged for seven hits, nine runs (eight earned) in 3.1 innings. Sophomores Kylie Wilsie (0.2 innings, one earned run) and Ryan Harvey (2.1, 0 earned runs) combined for the next three innings. Freshman Nathan Kerr came on for 1.2 scoreless innings and then junior Tal Jones pitched a scoreless ninth in his season debut. 
 
La Verne ace Gerald Terry earned the win after going seven innings and allowing just three hits and one earned run. The graduate student struck out nine and walked four to improve to 11-4 on the season. 
 
The Leopards struck for four runs in the top of the first thanks to five hits and a Pioneers error. After a leadoff single, each of the next two La Verne hitters reached on bunts, with the second hitter reaching on a throwing error that scored a run. Malachi Francois followed with a two-run double and the Leopards tacked on one more run on an RBI single. 
 
With one out in the bottom of the first, Thomson ripped a home run into the netting above the right-center field wall for his third home run in six at-bats to start the regional. 
 
La Verne tacked on three more runs over the next two innings despite only registering one single. 
 
The Leopards made it 8-1 on a bases-loaded walk in the top of the fourth before the skies opened. The two teams sat through a 75-minute rain delay before returning to action. 
 
The delay wouldn't stem the momentum. La Verne added one more run in the fourth, seven more in the fifth (all unearned) and three in the seventh. 
 
After not posting a hit since the third inning, Lewis & Clark struck for three runs in the bottom of the eighth. Savant snapped an 0-13 streak for the Pioneers with a single to center. Thomson followed with a walk and Davis drilled the brick wall in dead center to snap a 15-run scoring streak for La Verne. With two down, Lee ripped a double inside the first-base line and beat the throw into second to score Thomson and Davis. 
 
BY THE NUMBERS

• Lewis & Clark used all seven of their available position players off the bench. Joaquin Sandoval, Henry Goodier, Jacob Serafini, Ryan Sanderson, Blake Tellinghusen, Delaney and Lee all came off the bench in the contest. 
• Jones made his first appearance for the Pioneers since April 19, 2022 when he threw 0.1 innings against the University of Puget Sound. Jones, who had been injured all season, threw one inning and allowed one walk and induced a double play. 
• Sophomore Justin Cavagnaro and Tellinghusen combined to hold on to three foul tip strike threes in the contest. 
• Ghammachi saw his 16-game hitting streak come to a close.  
• With his two hits, Thomson moved into sole possession of second place in program history in career hits with 196. 

WHO'S NEXT 
 
Lewis & Clark will take on top-seed and host #7/5 Birmingham-Southern College at 7:50 pm Central/5:50 pm Pacific in an elimination game. The winner will take on the #2 University of La Verne on Sunday in the Birmingham Regional Championship Series.