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LOS ANGELES — Nolan McCarthy did what he's done all season, pitching a gem as the Occidental baseball team earned an important SCIAC victory over La Verne 5-2 on Friday.

Oxy moves a game ahead of La Verne for second place in the SCIAC at 11-5 and is tied with Chapman in the loss column for first place. 

Oxy's victory over the Leopards is the first of a crucial three-game series between the teams this weekend. They will play a doubleheader at La Verne on Saturday, beginning at 11 a.m.

McCarthy, Oxy's 6-foot-5 junior Friday starter, threw a complete-game, two-hitter, leading the Tigers to victory. In all nine innings pitched, he had six strikeouts with just two walks, and one earned run.

In 50 SCIAC innings, McCarthy has a SCIAC-best 1.26 ERA, with 41 strikeouts and 11 walks. He's 5-1 and has five complete games in conference action.

"We had a great performance from our staff ace and found a way to add runs early in the game," Oxy head coach Luke Wetmore said. "We got a big home run from Antonio Andrade to start the scoring and get us going."

Andrade went 2 for 4 with a pair of runs scored and the homer. Oxy second baseman Reid Gibbs went 2 for 4 with a pair of RBIs, catcher Jared Baur was 2 for 3 with an RBI, and first baseman Jake Fredrickson and shortsop Michael Ingram each went 1 for 4 with a run scored. Third baseman Gus Patrick was 2 for 4, and left fielder Eamon McNeil was 1 for 3 with a run.

The Tigers posted two runs in the second, two in the third and one more in the fifth.

La Verne scored in the fourth and fifth.