THOUSAND OAKS — It was an important series that didn't quite go according to plan. The Occidental College baseball team dropped two more games to Cal Lutheran on Saturday, making it three on the weekend and three games that now separate the Tigers from first place in the SCIAC standings.

Oxy (14-12, 9-6 SCIAC), which entered the weekend in a first-place tie with La Verne (17-9, 12-3 SCIAC), lost three in a row, while the Leopards swept Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (12-15, 7-8 SCIAC).

The Tigers now sit in third place having played 15 of 28 conference games.

GAME 1: Cal Lutheran 4, Occidental 2

Anthony Salsedo (Tracy) went 3 for 4 and the Tigers rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth inning, but came up short, losing 4-2 in the first game of a doubleheader.

Salsedo singled in Jonathan Wong (Grizzly Flats) for the second of Oxy's runs in the team's last turn at the plate with two outs. Dan Kelley (Kirkland, Wash) grounded into a fielder's choice to end the game in the next at bat.

Pedro Aldape (Sherman Oaks) also singled in the inning, scoring Scott Hong (Los Angeles).

Joseph Kling (Kirksville, Mo.) pitched a gem for Oxy in a losing effort, giving up two earned runs in six innings of work.

For the second day in a row, Cal Lu's starter went deep into the game. Saturday morning it was Peter Ciaramitaro pitching seven innings with five strikeouts and no earned runs in the victory.

Game 2: Cal Lutheran 7, Occidental 3

Oxy's Matt Malott (San Diego) took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before Iggy Wagner tripled in Garret Smith to break Malott's rythym and score the first of Ca Lu's seven unanswered runs in a 7-3 comeback victory over the Tigers.

Aldape brought in a A.J. Libunao (Huntington Beach) with a sacrifice fly in the top of the fifth, and Logan Allen (Atascadero) doubled in a run in the fifth before scoring himself to give Oxy a 3-0 lead.

But the Kingsmen scored two in the bottom half, one in the seventh to tie the game at three, then Nick Boggan hit a grand slam to break the game open in the eighth.

Malott went 7.1 innings, striking out six with five earned runs.

Oxy managed just two hits, with Brent Wunner joining Allen as the only other Tiger to scratch.