LA VERNE, Calif. – The Franklin & Marshall baseball team (8-7) was swept in its doubleheader at No. 8 La Verne (14-1) Friday afternoon. The Leopards held off the Diplomats, 5-2, in game one, before completing the sweep with a 10-4 victory in game two.
 
Game 1: No. 8 La Verne 5, Franklin & Marshall 2
La Verne took an early 4-0 advantage, while holding F&M scoreless through six innings of play. The Diplomats plated two runs in the seventh, but couldn't push across anymore runs in the late innings to fall in game one.

Trailing 4-0 in the top of the seventh, Michael von Zuben and Nick Lorenzo both worked walks to set up an RBI-single from Colin Mackenzie to put the Diplomats on the scoreboard. The next batter, Gideon Schwartz put the ball in play on a fielder's choice to allow Lorenzo to score – cutting the deficit in half, 4-2.

F&M struggled to get its offense going as it was limited to just three hits in the contest.

Dan Galef (3-1) was hit with his first loss this season, striking out four and allowing four earned runs in five innings-pitched. Anders Snow struck out one and allowed one earned run in three innings of relief.
 
Game 2: No. 8 La Verne 10, Franklin & Marshall 4
F&M broke into the scoring column first as it held a 2-1 lead through four innings. From that point, La Verne scored six runs in the middle innings to take a 7-2 advantage. F&M fought back with two runs in the eighth, but the deficit was too great to overcome as the Leopards earned their 14th win of the season.

In the top of the third, Colin Mackenzie doubled and AJ Desautels hit an infield-single to put runners at the corners with no outs. An error by the La Verne shortstop during the next at-bat allowed Mackenzie to score, putting F&M ahead 1-0.

After the Leopards tied the game in the bottom of the third, F&M went right back to work in the top of the fourth. Lorenzo led off the frame with a double into the left center field gap. La Verne forced the next two batters to fly out for two quick outs in the inning. However, Andrew Filippelli ripped a single through the right side of the infield to score Lorenzo to give Franklin & Marshall a 2-1 lead.

The Leopards came back with two runs in the fifth, one run in the sixth, and three runs in the seventh to take a 7-2 lead.

In the top of the eighth, Schwartz and Lorenzo worked back-to-back walks to put two runners on with one out. An error in the Leopards' infield allowed Schwartz to score and Lorenzo to advance to third on the play. Filippelli then singled to left field, driving in Lorenzo to reduce the deficit to 7-4. Despite the late surge from the Diplomats, La Verne added three runs in the bottom of the frame to pull away with the win.

Four Diplomats recorded multi-hit games with Filippelli driving in a team-high two RBI.

Peter Mullen (0-1) was tagged with the loss as he struck out four and allowed two earned runs in 4.2 innings on the mound.

Franklin & Marshall concludes its series with No. 8 La Verne on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. EST (9:00 a.m. PST) in the final game of the Diplomats' Spring Break trip to California.