After scoring four early runs in a cold and windy first game of a three-game series against Chapman, a lack of hits in crucial moments down the stretch culminated in a 6-4 loss for the Leopard baseball team.

Sophomore catcher George Holland dodges the tag by Redlands’ first baseman Jon Cavender in the bottom of the fifth inning Saturday.

A solo homerun over the left field wall by junior catcher Jason Moralez capped a four-run sixth inning that helped the Leopard baseball team secure a series-opening 9-5 win over Occidental on Friday.

This year’s baseball team is in high spirits about what lies ahead for the upcoming season.

Bulldozed baseball, soccer and football fields will eventually give way to the spanking new residence hall and a parking lot.

La Verne will lose another outstanding Leopard athlete come the end of the semester, as pitcher and infielder Mark Larini has played his last game for the University.

As a young man I look back to my younger years, growing up playing baseball. I remember dreaming of bigger better stages to compete and display my abilities in the sport. I came from programs that did not have winning traditions, in fact they could be considered among the worst programs over the past 10 years in southern California.

The Leopards gave Ben Hines Field and their seniors a proper farewell last Friday, beating Caltech, 13-3, in seven innings.

The University of La Verne plans to build new athletics facilities on its Campus West property, located south of Arrow Highway and west of Wheeler Avenue, no later than Dec. 31, 2013.

I couldn’t agree more with the editorial comments opposing the removal of Ben Hines Field for a parking lot (“Field of broken dreams,” April 22).