Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. - Senior right hander Ryan Schwenn (Scottsdale, AZ.) tossed a complete game five-hit shutout to lead the Poets to a 2-0 victory over Cal Lutheran Monday afternoon at Ullman Stadium, moving the Whittier winning streak to six.
Whittier now improves to 19-15, 13-11 SCIAC, while Cal Lutheran drops to 20-13, 15-9.
Schwenn walked one, fanned eight and the only two innings Schwenn got more than one runner on base was the second when he allowed two singles and then in the fourth when he allowed a walk and a single. But in both circumstances he struck out the ensuing batters to end the threats.
Schwenn threw 117 pitches including 77 strikes and his effort played the biggest role in Whittier earning its first road win over Cal Lutheran since April 23, 1993.
Schwenn picked up his fourth straight complete game victory in as many starts on Monday. During that stretch he has tossed a no-hitter against La Verne (March 30) as well as a five-hitter against Occidental (April 6) and a quality start against Redlands (March 23). Over his past five starts the Poet pitcher has thrown 46 innings and posted a 4-0 record, to go along with a 0.98 ERA and 26 strikeouts.
Overshadowed was the performance of Cal Lutheran starting pitcher Peter Ciaramitaro. The Kingsmen starter threw 123 pitches and held the Poets to just six singles on the day.
Whittier managed to get on the board first in the second inning which started with Pete Mitchell (Bakersfield, Calif.) getting hit by a pitch. Tyler Bogart (Templeton, Calif.) then reached due to a fielder's choice in the ensuing at bat but because of a throwing error by the first baseman P. Mitchell was able to scamper over to third.
Josh Genzuk (West Covina, Calif.) then came to bat and sacrificed Bogart over allowing P. Mitchell to score from third putting Whittier in front 1-0. But Whittier didn't stop there as junior Alex Mitchell (Bakersfield, Calif.) singled to left field on a 2-0 count that scored Bogart from second.
This would be all the offense Schwenn would need as he took care of business over the next seven innings to preserve the two run victory and his SCIAC leading eighth win of the season.
Cory Goodchild (Mission Viejo, Calif.) led Whittier with two hits, while senior captain Andrew Vallejo (Hollywood, Calif.) was held to a mere one hit a day after he went 2-4 with two runs and two RBI's.
Behind this six game winning streak Whittier now moves into fifth place one game behind Occidental and two games behind Cal Lutheran who is now tied for second with Pomona-Pitzer with four games left to play.
Whittier returns to action next as they host CMS this Friday, April 20 beginning at 3pm before traveling out to Riverside, Calif. the next day to take on the Redlands beginning at 4pm.
