Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. – The Whittier College Baseball team started up their final four games of the regular season Saturday as they opened up the round robin part of their schedule at Memorial Field dropping both games to the University of La Verne and Chapman University.

Whittier entered the four game stretch in fifth place in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC) Standings and now drop to 14-23, 11-15 SCIAC.

Game 1 (La Verne – L, 8-1)

A tough first inning got the best of Nick Garcia (Anaheim, Calif.) in game one who surrendered three runs on four hits and the Purple & Gold were unable to rebound as they fell 8-1. 

Jake Raynaud (Los Gatos, Calif.) doubled in the first inning to right center that plated Dmitri Washington (Peoria, AZ) who reached on a walk earlier but the Poets struggled to get any more runs across soon after as they scattered four hits over the next eight innings.

Max Bradshaw (Salt Lake City, UT) finished 2-3 and Raynaud was 1-4 with an RBI.

Game 2 (Chapman – L, 23-11)

A combined 34 runs on 41 hits was the headline for game two between the Poets and Panthers.  Both teams also combined for 10 errors, with seven coming from CU. 

It was a struggle for both pitching staffs, especially for the Purple & Gold who saw Chapman add at least a run in each inning, including an eight spot put up in the seventh that forced the game to be called.

Whittier got two runs in the first.  Mason Blansett (Lodi, Calif.) led off the inning reaching due to an error by the second baseman and then moved up to second after Matt Macey (Oceanside, Calif.) was hit by a pitch.

Raynaud then singled to left that brought in one and Bradshaw would score the other drawing a base on balls. 

Whittier capitalized on two costly errors by the Panthers bringing across four runs in the third.  Bradshaw and Mike San Angelo (Downey, Calif.) both singled to lead things off.  Bradshaw moved over to third following an error by the third baseman and then came in to score after Dylan DeBrouwer (Manteca, Calif.) struck out but reached first on a wild pitch.

Brandon Mulrooney (Placentia, Calif.) was then hit by a pitch that moved DeBrouwer up to second and Blansett would then step in and reach after an error by the shortstop that allowed the bases to clear pulling WC within two 8-6.          

Whittier got on the scoreboard again in the sixth in a big way with five runs.  Raynaud led things off with a triple to left center.  Tanner Marcoe (Northridge, Calif.) then reached after getting hit by a pitch and was followed by a single by San Angelo. 

The rally continued soon after with Armando Valdez (Whittier, Calif.) singling to third on a bunt, which loaded the bases.  The Purple & Gold then went base to base after that with back-to-back-to-back singles from Andrew Lamar (Alta Loma, Calif.), Mulrooney, and Blansett, which brought in the next four runs. 

Trailing 15-11, Whittier felt they were in prime position with momentum in their favor to complete a comeback but Chapman would roar back with eight themselves in the top half of the seventh that secured the road victory forcing the game to be called after four hours.

Royce Komesu (Kailua, HI) earned the loss going 1.1 innings giving up five runs on seven hits.  Mulrooney finished the game 2-4 with a run scored and a run batted in.  Blansett was 2-5 with a run scored and three RBI's, and Raynaud, Bradshaw, and San Angelo each collected 2-4 efforts combining for five runs scored and three RBI's. 

Whittier travels now for two games as they go into Los Angeles, Calif. to take on Occidental College this morning, Sunday, May 1 beginning at 11:00am before traveling to Caltech on Tuesday, May 3 beginning at 3:00pm.