Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College softball team opened up their Spring Break Saturday in a big doubleheader matchup with Cal Lutheran who was coming into the twin bill sitting behind the Poets at No. 2 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Standings.

Whittier now drops to 13-5, 9-5 SCIAC after dropping Game 1 5-0 and allowing the Regals to come back in Game 2 to complete the sweep 3-2.  With the two losses, Cal Lutheran now leap frogs the Poets into sole possession of second place in the conference standings.     

Game 1 (L, 5-0)

The first game of the doubleheader lasted under two hours with CLU combining for 12 hits.  Courtney DeLano suffered her third loss on the season lasting just 3.1 innings giving up an earned run on three hits.   

Shonna Christianson picked up her fourth win on the season with a complete game shutout for CLU.  She got support in the first after a double from Katelyn Downing and an RBI single from Stephanie Martello.

The Regals would add runs in the fourth and fifth as insurance. A Whittier error allowed Sooyto to reach and advance to second base as the leadoff batter in the bottom of the fourth inning. She then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Christianson and came in to double the CLU lead on a sacrifice fly from Liz Mertel.

Another Poets error gave Cal Lutheran an early advantage in the fifth as Downing reached on the throwing miscue. She was pushed to second on a sac bunt from Kayla Sakamoto and hit the plate on a two-out Sooy double down the left field line. Christianson followed suit by helping her own cause with a two-RBI double in the same spot to increase the advantage to 5-0 as Sooy and Martello, who was hit by a pitch, both scored.

Whittier generated some excitement in the fourth, loading the bases before Christianson forced a ground ball to Kelly Lockwood at second, ending the threat. A pair of singles in the fifth put two on, but the CLU hurler got out of the jam and went on to retire the final eight batters she faced.

Only three hits were recorded for the Purple & Gold from Alexandra Flores, Mercedez Cundiff, and Alex Algandar. 

Game 2 (L, 3-2)

Whittier jumped out in front in the top half of the first.  After a walk to Emi Shimamoto, Samantha Mellano drove a single up the middle, which was immediately followed by a Mickala Gonzales double down the left field line that plated both runners.

But this would be the lone offense generated for the game for the Poets as the Regals came from behind to steal the sweep.  They picked up a run in the third as Ryanna Morua scored on an infield single from Sakamoto that cut the deficit in half.  An inning later, CLU knotted the game up at two with yet another two out rally where Sooy raced around the bases to score on an Andrea Brackpool double. 

Then in the sixth, six batters came up with the opportunity to open the game up but had to settle for one, which eventually would be the winning run coming from Danika Green. 

Whittier collected five hits in the game with two coming from Mellano. Shimamoto drew a walk and each player scored. Samantha Blum (4-2) threw the complete 6.0 inning game in the loss. 

Whittier returns to action as they return home for a doubleheader this Wednesday, March 19 when they host NYU Poly.  First pitches set for 11:00am and 1:00pm.