Picture by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
GOODYEAR, Ariz. – The Whittier College baseball team dropped their first two games of the Arizona Desert Classic on Friday, suffering losses to George Fox University (13-1) and Whitman College (18-5) in a day/night doubleheader.
GAME 1
George Fox got to starter Nick Garcia early, after a leadoff double and a pair of sacrifice hits in the first put the Bruins up by one. But the sophomore southpaw bore down following the score, retiring 11 consecutive batters to keep Whittier within a run.
In the third, senior Corey Jensen reached on a fielder's choice and was subsequently advanced to second after a balk. A groundout moved Jensen to third, and with two outs junior Stephen Zavala lined a 1-2 fastball up the middle to tie the game.
Garcia continued to deal into the 6th, but back-to-back hits by George Fox and an infield error opened the floodgates. After scoring three in the 6th, the Bruins added two runs in the 7th and seven in the 8th to seal the deal for a 13-1 win.
GAME 2
Whittier's woes continued against Whitman in the nightcap. The Missionaries tagged sophomore Matt Webster for a run in the first and wouldn't relinquish the lead for the entire game. Webster kept Whitman to three runs through four, but a six-run 5th added to the Missionaries' advantage.
Down 11-0 in the 7th, Poets freshman Graham Pimm led off with a single and was driven in by a triple off the bat of senior Julian Barzilli. In the 8th, Zavala blasted a three-run dinger, his first of the year, to whittle away the deficit, but in the bottom half of the inning Whitman exploded for seven runs to punctuate its victory.
Whittier returns to the field today, February 8 to take on Pacific Lutheran. First pitch is scheduled for 1:30pm and will be broadcast live on the Whittier College Sports Network.
