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Box Score 2 Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
WHITTIER, Calif. – It was a day the Whittier College softball 2014 Senior Class would never forget as the Purple & Gold swept the Regals of Cal Lutheran University Saturday afternoon earning a spot in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Post Season Tournament.
The Poets have now won three of their last four games improving to 26-14, 16-12 SCIAC pushing CLU out of Post Season contention.
The previous time these two teams met back on March 15 the Poets dropped the doubleheader 5-0 and 3-2. But this time around they found their bats winning 3-0 and 12-2 grabbing the No. 4 seed in the SCIAC Post Season Tournament.
"Our seniors have stepped up all year and today was another example of the leadership we have had from our seniors all year long", explained Head Coach Shelley Whitaker. "The SCIAC Tournament is always competitive and exciting and regardless of seeding, anyone has an opportunity to win."
Whittier came into the match-up with 24 wins, which was a tie for the third most in a single season (2009 & 2012). With the sweep the Poets now surpass that mark and are now tied for the second most wins for any softball team in the program's history trailing only to the 1986 team, which finished 29-12 under the tutelage of Robert Giomi.
Game 1 (W, 3-0)
Whittier got a run in the bottom half of the first when Samantha Mellano doubled in Alexandra Flores who led off the game with her own two base hit. CLU had an opportunity to get some runs on the board in the fourth when Kayla Sakamoto reached on an error to lead things off but an ensuing 6-4-3 double play would end the Regal threat.
Whittier would add another run in the fourth when Courtney DeLano doubled in Mercedez Cundiff and they would add another in the fifth with a Mellano single through the right side that brought in Emi Shimamoto.
This would be all the run support DeLano would need as she would toss her 18th complete game of the season giving up just five hits and improving to 15-10.
Mellano led the offensive unit going 2-2 with two RBI's.
Game 2 (W, 12-2)
Freshman Samantha Blum got the start in game two with playoff implications on the line. Win and you're in or lose and you wait for next weekend's series between Cal Lutheran and Chapman to see if you earn a berth.
Blum got off to a slow start giving up runs in the first two innings but settled down to quiet the Regal bats over the next four innings picking up her ninth win on the season.
Despite trailing early Whittier would plate three runs in the second sparked by a two run shot to left from Cundiff. But they weren't done there as they would use a Blum blast to dead center in the third that helped open the game up 8-0.
Then in the sixth the Poets put the finishing touches on an impressive doubleheader sweep adding another four runs thanks to a three run shot from Cundiff, her second of the game that halted the game in its tracks propelling the Poets into the playoffs.
Cundiff finished 3-4 with three runs scored and six runs batted in. Shimamoto and Mellano were 2-4, while Mickala Gonzales was 2-4 with two runs scored and a run batted in.
Whittier will travel to Redlands, Calif. in two weeks when the SCIAC Post Season Tournament gets underway as the Poets will take on the No. 15 Bulldogs with date and times to be announced.
"The success we have had in our program is credited to the current players and the alumni that have paved the way for our current athletes to be on the track they are today," stated Whitaker.
