Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – The Whittier College softball team inched closer to the single season win total in the Whittier College softball record books following a sweep of Occidental College Saturday afternoon winning 12-0 and 4-1.
With the sweep the Poets improve to 22-10, 12-8 SCIAC, two wins away from tying the current single season win total with three being needed to break the record.
Game 1 (W, 12-0 – 5 Innings)
Whittier only needed five innings to cruise past the Tigers in game one as they totaled 12 runs on 13 hits with five coming in the first, four in the third, and three in the fourth.
Courtney DeLano picked up her 12th win on the season going her 13th complete game giving up a mere three hits, while striking out five and is now the leader in career strikeouts surpassing former teammate Jessica Rosnack who had the previous record at 261. DeLano now has 263.
Jordan Learn doubled in the first clearing the bases and was brought in along with DeLano following a Samantha Blum single that put the Purple & Gold out in front early.
DeLano then connected on her seventh home run of the season plating a solo shot to start off the third before Emi Shimamoto drew a walk bringing in Blum and a Mickala Gonzales single brought in Alyse Gutierrez.
Leading 9-0 Whittier would add another three runs in the fourth with two RBI doubles from Blum and Shimamoto that put the game out of reach.
Learn finished 2-3 with two runs scored and three runs batted in. Blum was 3-3 coming across twice and bringing in two herself. Then DeLano did her duty at the plate finishing 2-3 with two runs scored and a run batted in.
Game 2 (W, 4-1)
DeLano was lights out once again in game two picking up her 13th win on the season following her 14th complete game giving up a run (unearned) on just two hits.
Samantha Mellano brought in the first Poet run with a sacrifice fly in the first plating Alexandra Flores who reached on a single to right. Flores then came up big herself in the top half of the second with a bases clearing double that brought in Blum, Learn, and Mercedez Cundiff.
Following a DeLano fielding error in the bottom half of the inning Oxy would manage to bring in their lone run of the game but that would be the last time they would get a runner at third base as DeLano would quiet the Tiger bats over the final five innings clinching her second straight victory.
Flores was 2-4 for the game with a run scored and three RBI's. Gonzales was also 2-4, while DeLano was 2-3.
Whittier returns to the diamond this Friday, April 11 when they host Claremont-M-S at 2:00pm and 4:00pm before hosting Pomona-Pitzer on Saturday, April 12 for the annual Strike Out Cancer Event with game times set for 12:00pm and 2:00pm.
