Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. (Feb. 12, 2022) – The Whittier College softball team, in their first bit of regular season action in almost two years, answered the bell with a pair of wins against Puget Sound University on Friday afternoon.

Game 1: Whittier 6, Puget Sound 1

The Poets reached the finish line in both game largely due to some sharp pitching performances and strong defense, but got the jump early on the Loggers in Game 1, posting three runs in the first inning. Taking the first at-bat of the season for the Purple & Gold, senior outfielder Brianna MaGee (Torrance, Calif. / West Torrance) got aboard with a leadoff single before proceeding to steal second base. Soon, junior infielder Kelly Monroy (La Puente, Calif. / Rio Hondo College) would join MaGee on base and join her teammates in stealing second. With two runners in scoring position, sophomore clean-up hitter Emily Adkison (Laguna Niguel, Calif. / Mater Dei) knocked home Magee before Monroy came crossed home plate on a wild pitch that would also lead to the sophomore scoring the first run of her career. The Poets would add some insurance runs in fourth and fifth when consecutive doubles into right center from senior outfiedler Sofia Paniagua (Glendora, Calif. / Glendora) and Marissa Flynn (Covina, Calif. / South Hills) helped increase the lead to four.

Monroy would knock in the first run of her Whittier career in the fifth inning, a lining shot into left center field that scored junior catcher Jocelyn Signoretti (La Palma, Calif. / Kennedy). The junior transfer would score her team's final run of the game on an error by the opposing shortstop later that inning. Ultimately, the Poets were able to lean on the stellar pitching of junior Jamie Garvey (Wilmington, Calif. / El Camino College), who went five strong and struck out four to earn her first win of the season. Classmate Riley Garcia (Fullerton, Calif. / Sunny Hills) would relieve her ahead of the sixth inning and posted a pair of clean frames with two strikeouts of her own that would ultimately secure the Poets their first win of the season against a formidable NCAA opponent.

Game 2: Whittier 3, Puget Sound 2

The second game of Friday's doubleheader had a bit more of a flair for the dramatic, as the Poets, who despite never trailing, needed to rely even more on their pitching to get the job done. However, a stellar complete-game outing from junior pitcher Katelyn Calvetti (Monterey, Calif. / Monterey) proved to be the difference maker in the late game. Calvetti struck out eight Loggers over seven innings, including two in the final inning to seal the victory for the Poets at Palmer Field while maintaining a WHIP under 1.00.

Meanwhile, the Poets' bats managed to produce despite running into a tough matchup with Puget Sound's starting pitcher, scattering three runs over three different innings. Ultimately, a single from senior outfielder Emily Facio (Chino, Calif. / Chino) in a pinch-hitting situation would bring sophomore Lindsey Perry (Corona, Calif. / Santiago) home from second to score the go-ahead run. However, it would be the insurance run scored with a base knock from junior middle infielder Gysselle Soto (San Fernando, Calif. / Mission College) that would ultimately be the difference between the Poets securing their second victory of the day and having to claw it out in extra innings. The junior's single into left center brought freshman outfielder Sara Luna (Downey, Calif. / Downey) home for the first run of her career. It took all participating members for the Whittier softball team to come away with two wins on the day, and five different players would record RBI's to complete the afternoon sweep.

Head Coach Trisha Senyo and the Poets will hope to bring the momentum into their next regular season contests against Linfield College on Saturday, Feb. 19.

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