WHITTIER, Calif. - The
Whittier College baseball team opened up the 2009 season with a
bang as the Poets upset the preseason No. 2 team in the country,
Chapman University, 10-8 in front of 350 fans at Memorial Field.
Whittier (1-0) trailed 6-0 as it headed into the bottom half of
the sixth inning but managed to push 10 runners across the plate
over the next two innings en route to the win.
Freshman pitcher Casey Serna (1-0) came in
relief of senior starting pitcher Justin Armijo in
the sixth inning and threw 1.1 innings to earn his first collegiate
win.
Senior third basemen Michael Benavente led the
offensive attack as he was 2-for-4 from the plate with two runs
scored which includes a lead off single in the sixth inning to
spark the Poets. Whittier pulled within two runs at 6-4 after the
sixth inning.
Freshman shortstop Taylor Fallon scored two
runs in his debut with WC as he was 1-for-4 from the plate. Fallon
scored in the sixth after fellow freshman Austin
Straus hit a bases clearing, three RBI, double off the
left centerfield fence.
The Poets tacked on six more runs in the home half of the
seventh inning which proved to be more than enough as Whittier went
on for the two-run win.
The seventh inning started with a one out Benavente double down
the right field line that saw him score one batter later on a
Fallon single.
Jon Fugazi, Reed Tuttle and
Anthony Cappelletti hit three consecutive singles
and all scored in the inning. Senior Lorenzo Lopez
picked up the game winning RBI as he doubled in Andrew
Vallejo (pinch ran for Ian Bablewski) and
Cappelletti.
Chapman (0-1) didn't go quietly as it scored two runs in the top
of the eighth and threatened with more. The Panthers loaded the
bases with no outs and scored their first run of the inning on a
sacrifice fly by Pat Ohail. Tristan Phillips singled home Matt
Pearson on the ensuing at bat to cut into the Poet lead at 10-8.
The Panthers' designated hitter Adam Kordich had what appeared
to be a sacrifice RBI that would have made the score 10-9 but
Tuttle fielded the groundball and threw home to catcher
Ryan Crawford who hung on as the Poets registered
the 4-2 putout at the plate. The inning ended on the next at bat as
Tyler Hadzinsky grounded out to third base.
Chapman's starting pitcher Wayde Kitchens went 6.1 innings,
scattered six hits, struck out eight and gave up six runs (five
earned). Freshman Ben Levit (0-1) faced three batters in the
seventh inning and could not record an out. He suffered the loss in
the decision.
Junior Kevin Pigott threw the final two innings
of the game for the Poets to pick up the save. He gave up two hits
and walked one batter.
As a team Whittier collected 10 hits with nine of them coming in
the sixth and seventh inning.
Chapman left 13 runners on base.
The Poets return to action tomorrow, January 31, as they hit the
road to face Chapman in a doubleheader. The first pitch is
scheduled for 11 a.m.
Photo by: Laurence R. Martinez/lrmphotos.com
