Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College baseball team who came into Wednesday's contest in dire need of a win after losing eight of their last ten games received a pitching gem from Ben Cerami en route to the 5-3 victory over Rutgers-Newark.
Cerami got through the first two innings with relative ease, and was able to induce double plays in each of those frames to keep the game scoreless. But the Scarlett Raiders got to Cerami in the 3rd, when a two-out walk issued to the nine hitter led to an earned run.
In the top of the 4th, the Scarlet Raiders added a pair of runs on four hits to increase their lead to three. Down 3-0, Whittier came to bat in the bottom of the frame looking for a spark. It came in the form of an odd sequence of events, which started with a sharp line drive to center field off the bat of freshman Jonathan Whipple. Rutgers-Newark centerfielder Ryan McFarlane appeared to have trapped the ball beneath his glove, but the home plate umpire signaled for the out. Poets head coach Mike Rizzo left the dugout to dispute the call, and after a conference between the umpires the play was reversed and Whipple was awarded first base. With the baseball gods smiling upon it, Whittier sent sophomore Cody Martinez to the plate, who crushed a 2-2 pitch over the right-centerfield wall to bring the Poets within a run.
With Cerami throwing well following the two-run Rutgers-Newark 4th, the score was still 3-2 as Whipple came up again in the bottom of the 6th. He would reach base via his second hit of the afternoon, but was promptly picked off just moments later during Martinez's third at bat. The sophomore DH would work a walk, and sophomore Chris Sekiguchi kept the rally alive with a one out single. Freshman Max Bradshaw came up next, and with two men on ripped a double to right that should have scored both runners, but Martinez got a late jump and could only advance to third while Sekiguchi was tagged out in between second and third base.
With two outs and two men on, Coach Rizzo inserted junior Willie Renard to pinch hit following a Scarlet Raiders pitching change. The Scottsdale, AZ native laced the first pitch he saw into centerfield that scored Martinez and Bradshaw and gave Whittier its first lead of the game.
The Poets added insurance in the 7th thanks to a double from Whipple that plated junior Julian Barzilli, and with the score 5-3 Cerami returned to the mound to start the top of the 9th. A lead-off double forced Coach Rizzo to replace his starter with senior Bobby Santoyo, and Santoyo retired the next three Rutgers-Newark hitters to earn his third save of the season and secure the victory for the Poets.
Cerami got the win for Whittier, scattering 9 hits over 8 innings while giving up 3 runs (2 earned), walking a pair and striking out 4. Martinez was 1 for 2 with two RBIs, two runs scored and a walk, while Whipple went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored.
The Poets return to the field, Monday, March 25 when they host Pacific (Ore.) with the first pitch slated for 2:00pm
