Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College softball team used two walk-offs Saturday to earn the sweep over Cal Lutheran University at Palmer Field to solidify their No. 1 spot in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Standings. 

With the sweep the Poets improve to 14-5, 9-1 SCIAC and are off to the best start in the program's history as they seek the program's second SCIAC Championships Title. 

Game 1 (Whittier – 5, Cal Lutheran – 4)

Alexandra Flores (Santa Fe Springs, Calif.) and Mercedez Cundiff (Rowland, Calif.) hit homeruns in the bottom half of the seventh that propelled the Purple & Gold to the come from behind 5-4 victory in game one over the Regals.

CLU got on the scoreboard first coming on a sacrifice fly by Liz Mertel that plated Hannah Brown.  Whittier responded though in the bottom half of the inning when senior Sarah Miller (Vista, Calif.) plated Ashlyn Canchola (La Verne, Calif.) with a single to right and due to an errant throw, freshman Marialena Ahern (Fremont, Calif.) was able to come in that gave WC the 2-1 lead.

Cal Lutheran battled back in the third with Scooter Rapisardi leading things off with a walk.  Courtney Sooy laid down an ensuing bunt, reaching on an error by the third baseman. Christina Hunter kept the Regals alive laying down another sacrifice bunt to advance runners into scoring position. Blake Lewis then reached on an error by the pitcher which went into right field allowing Sooy and Rapisardi to score, giving the Regals their second lead of the day at 3-2.

In the sixth, CLU added another off the bat of Amanda Lewis who led off with a solo homerun to deep left center to push the Regals lead to 4-2.  But in the seventh the Poets responded in a big way with a solo shot coming from Flores that pulled the Purple & Gold within one.  After a walk to Emi Shimamoto (Santa Clarita, Calif.), Cundiff came up and parked one that sent the Poets to the 5-4 come from behind victory.

Samantha Blum (San Jose, Calif.) went a complete game improving to 8-2 giving up one earned run on four hits to go with four strikeouts.  Sooy was handed the loss and drops to 9-9 on the season giving up five runs on eight hits.

Shimamoto finished the game 2-3 with a run scored.  Miller was 1-2 with two runs batted in and Cundiff and Flores both were 1-4.      

Game 2 (Whittier – 7, Cal Lutheran – 6)

The excitement continued in game two of the doubleheader.  Whittier received singles from Flores, Samantha Mellano (Fullerton, Calif.) and Cundiff that brought in a run in the bottom half of the first.  The Regals though answered quickly bringing across two in the third thanks to an Amanda Lewis single up the middle.    

The Poets bounced back in the bottom of the inning to bring another run across with Shimamoto coming in on a wild pitch.  In the fourth, Shonna Christianson singled to right with two outs that put CLU back on top 3-2, but again Whittier responded in the bottom half with a double coming from freshman Tara-Ann Dumlao (Mililani, HI) to center that brought in Ahern.

In the fifth, Whittier would regain the lead 5-3 thanks to a Canchola two-run shot and would add another the very next inning when Cundiff reached on an error by the shortstop that brought in Shimamoto.  But the 6-3 lead would soon be short-lived as Blake Lewis would connect on a game-tying three run shot in the top half of the seventh that moved the score to 6-6. 

Despite the air being taken out of their sails the Poets responded again in their half of the seventh.  Ahern led things off being hit by a pitch.  Alyse Gutierrez (West Covina, Calif.) followed with a single to left and Blum advanced both runners over with a groundout to the pitcher.  Dumlao then came up and dribbled one in front of the plate but with it, Ahern was able to come in and score lifting the Poets to their second straight walk off victory and the sweep. 

Rachel Alhanati (Lake Forest, Calif.) received the no decision after going 2.2 innings giving up two unearned runs on four hits.  She was relieved by Blum who threw the final 4.1 innings and despite giving up four runs on seven hits was able to escape with her SCIAC leading ninth victory of the season.

Shimamoto finished the game 2-3 with two runs scored.  Mellano was 2-3 with a run scored and Ahern was 1-2 with two runs scored.  Canchola did damage as well finishing 1-4 with a run scored and two RBI's.               

Whittier returns to the non-conference portion of their schedule tomorrow, Monday, March 23 when they host Williams for a solo game beginning at 1:00pm.