Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

WHITTIER, Calif. (Mar. 5, 2022) – The Whittier College softball team rallied against the University of Redlands this weekend to take down the Bulldogs in the team's first SCIAC series of the young season.

Friday: Redlands 7, Whittier 4

The Poets scattered four runs across seven innings on Friday, with nine different players accounting for the home team's 11 hits. Junior starting pitcher Jamie Garvey (Wilmington, Calif. / El Camino College) had to contend with the Bulldogs' top pitcher and SCIAC wins leader, but helped her own cause with a home run in the sixth inning, the Poets' second of the game. The first long ball came courtesy of sophomore infielder Lindsey Perry (Corona, Calif. / Santiago), but with both home runs coming with the bases empty, the Redlands were able to manage the game late as the Poets ran out of time to make their move. Still, Whittier managed to outhit its SCIAC foe, and had moments extending beyond the home runs, such as a pinch-hit triple from sophomore Melissa Carrasco (San Jose, Calif. / Willow Glen). Though the wide array of contributions would not be enough to put Whittier on top in the first game of the series, it did foreshadow better days to come, perhaps even as soon as Saturday.

Saturday Game 1: Whittier 20, Redlands 10

After having to deal with the Bulldogs' ace on Friday, the Poets had a much lesser task in front of them facing a much less proven arm. As a result, the Poets were able to tag the Bulldogs with seven runs over the first two innings, wasting no time in taking it to the home team. Perry, one day removed from her home run at Palmer Field, got things going in the top first with a double into right field that scored junior second baseman Gysselle Soto (San Fernando, Calif. / Mission College) and senior third baseman Yolanda Oregel (Anaheim, Calif. / Loara). Later that inning, senior outfielder Brianna MaGee (Torrance, Calif. / West Torrance) would deliver for Whittier with a single up the middle that scored Perry, along with freshman catcher Maya Palos (Montebello, Calif. / Schurr). MaGee would strike again with a two-RBI double to left field in the second inning, staking the Poets to a 7-0 lead early, though the visitors would soon extend their lead to 8-0 with a sacrifice fly from sophomore first baseman Emily Adkison (Laguna Niguel, Calif. / Mater Dei) in the ensuing inning.

Although the Poets held a commanding lead over their SCIAC foes for the entirety of the first game of Saturday's doubleheader, that did not inhibit them from scoring 10 more insurance runs over the contest. The extra support would come in handy with Redlands not showing any signs of quit with a big inning of its own to keep itself out of 'mercy rule' territory. An Adksion home run put three more on the board for Whittier in the fifth inning, and the Poets would go on to have a five-run ninth inning with the game firmly out of reach keyed by a bases-clearing double from Carrasco following a two-run shot from sophomore infielder Marissa Flynn (Covina, Calif. / South Hills). Though several Poets stood out, flashing power to go with multi-hit outings, it was MaGee's star that shone brightest with the senior having a perfect 4-for-4 game at the dish to go with four RBI's.

Saturday Game 2: Whittier 6, Redlands 2

With a series win up for grabs, junior pitcher Riley Garcia (Fullerton, Calif. / Sunny Hills) started on the mound for the first time this season after Garvey pitched four innings of relief of junior Katelyn Calvetti (Monterey, Calif. / Monterey) earlier in the day to earn the Game 1 win. The junior scattered seven hits over five innings of work, striking out four of the 23 Bulldogs she faced. She also received some consistent run support in her first start of the season with three home runs at her back. The first came courtesy of Oregel, who went yard down the left-field line with a ball just to the right of the foul pole for what was not only her second home run of the year but her second to lead off a game. Another long ball into left field from sophomore outfielder Sara Chiala (Los Gatos, Calif. / Los Gatos) soon followed, and a third from Adkison served as the exclamation point on the Poets' first SCIAC series victory in as many tries. Adkison would finish the series hitting .538 altogether, with a 1.000 slugging percentage, two home runs and six RBI's.

Head Coach Trisha Senyo and the Poets will have a busy week ahead of them, with six games on tap at Palmer field in four days against three programs from the east coast. The first of these games will take place on Wednesday, Mar. 9 against Carnegie Mellon University at 12:30 p.m.

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