Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
REDLANDS, Calif. – The Whittier baseball team held off Redlands after it surrendered a three-run eighth inning to snap its six-game skid with a 6-4 win over the Bulldogs at The Yard Sunday afternoon.
Keith Hoefel earned the win behind 7.1 innings on the hill. He scattered six hits with five strike outs and allowed four runs (three earned).
Taylor Fallon closed the door on Redlands by throwing 1.2 scoreless innings. The save is the sixth of the season.
The Poets (13-16) struck first, in the top of the first, on an RBI-double from Dan Gleiberman. Whittier extended its lead to 3-0 after and Gleiberman and Darby Weppner each hit RBI singles in the third frame.
Gleiberman drove in Alex Mitchell while Weppner plated Alex Gast.
Redlands got on the board in the home half of the fourth but the Poets answered the single run with a solo homerun from Gleiberman in the top of the fifth. The purple and gold lead reached 5-1 after Gleiberman crossed home in the eighth stanza off a wild pitch.
Gleiberman finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Reed Tuttle had a pair of hits in the win.
The Bulldogs made it a one-run affair with a three spot in the home half of the eighth but that proved as close as they would get. Whittier added one more insurance run in the ninth en route to the two-run win.
Whittier returns to action on Friday afternoon with a single game at Occidental. First pitch is slated for 3 pm.
