Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
ORANGE, Calif. – For the first time this season the Whittier College baseball team has been swept by a Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) opponent dropping into 3rd Place in the SCIAC standings at 20-15, 16-8 SCIAC.
Whittier maintained a first place standing up until Friday when they started their series with Chapman and at the conclusion they have now dropped three games into third place behind Cal Lutheran and Chapman who sit tied atop the standings at 18-6.
Game 1 (L, 10-0)
Whittier's bats were held to a mere six hits in game one of the doubleheader as Travis McGee went 7.0 innings allowing three hits and four walks, while striking out eight.
Chapman got out in front early 1-0 and then added four runs in the third and fifth behind two separate shots from Tyler Cook and Mark Saatzer that opened the game up 5-0.
The Panthers sealed the victory in the fifth with a five run inning capped off with a bases clearing triple from Saatzer that put the game out of reach.
Poet starter Curtis Martin lasted just 4.2 innings giving up eight earned runs on 11 hits. Stephen Zavala, Cody Martinez, and Graham Pimm each recorded the three hits on the afternoon.
Game 2 (L, 5-2)
Whittier jumped in front 2-0 in game two of the doubleheader with a two out two run single by Martinez that brought in Julian Barzilli and Pimm.
But these would be the lone runs brought around for the Purple & Gold as Chapman starter Taber Watson would quiet the Poet bats over the next 4.2 innings, while getting four runs over the second and third innings sparked by back to back doubles from Cook and Greg Dillon.
CU would add an insurance run in the sixth to move the score to 5-2. Whittier saw an opening in the seventh getting runners on second and third with nobody out but a Cody Reilly strikeout, a force out at home and a groundout would end the Poet threat allowing Chapman to escape with the three run victory.
Justin Cheatham was charged with the loss going 5.0 innings giving up four runs on seven hits with Pimm, Barzilli, Ben Cerami, Martinez, Jonathan Whipple, and Armando Valdez all recording a hit.
Whittier enters the SCIAC round robin portion of the schedule as the No. 3 seed taking on Claremont-M-S on the road this Wednesday, April 23.
