Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography

WHITTIER, Calif. (May. 8, 2022) – The Whittier College baseball team padded its 2022 season with one more victory at home, this time against the University of Redlands in the first game of this weekend's SCIAC series, the last of the season for both teams. In addition to taking down the Bulldogs, 5-4, on Friday afternoon, the Poets also fought tooth and nail with the Bulldogs during both games of Saturday's doubleheader and nearly pulled off the series victory as well as a potential sweep.

Friday: Whittier 6, Redlands 5

Both teams came out swinging, literally, having both been eliminated from SCIAC Postseason Tournament consideration prior to Friday, but it would be the host Poets that would hit their SCIAC foe just a little harder. Whittier got unlikely back-to-back triples from freshman Maximus Berber (Riverside, Calif. / Ramona) and Dane Goodman, both of which were achieved in very different ways. While Goodman ripped his off the centerfield wall, Berber's came in perfectly between the first baseman and right fielder and took a massive hop towards the right field line to clear the bases, scoring seniors James Stirton (Cerritos, Calif. / Valley Christian) and Mike Hernandez (Stockton, Calif. / Edison).

Whittier's strong pitching on the day would come into focus from there. Junior Matt Helguera (Montebello, Calif. / Schurr) settled in from here, allowing just six hits over six innings while striking out three to prevent Redlands from obtaining a lead at any point after the first inning. He would then give way to freshman Marcos Armenta (Bellflower, Calif. / Gahr) in the bottom seventh, who effectively pitched to contact and produced enough routine ground balls and fly outs to take Whittier to the end of the game. Both of Redlands' hits off Armenta came in the eighth inning, but the freshman got the Bulldogs' starting first baseman and three-hole hitter to ground into a double play, killing any idea of a Bulldogs rally in that frame. Armenta's confidence carried over to the ninth inning, particularly after the Bulldogs walked in the winning run in the bottom eighth. Back-to-back walks from senior Jared Vuz (Blairstown, N.J. / North Warren Regional) and junior Jack Guerrero (Long Beach, Calif. / Long Beach Poly) put the Poets back on top, and gave Armenta the necessary shot in the arm to carry the Poets over the finish line with a 1-2-3 bottom ninth. Berber, who led all Poets with two RBI's, added to his big day with a pair of singles in the sixth and eighth innings respectively.

Saturday Game 1: Redlands 5, Whittier 2

Whittier's effective work on the mound translated into Saturday's game, as freshman Berber toed the rubber for the first game of the double header. He responded by striking out four Bulldogs over six innings, surrendering just four hits to earn himself a quality start. Berber also accounted for the entirety of the Poets' offensive damage with a two-run bomb to opposite field in the top sixth that also scored freshman shortstop Nate Sherman (Ventura, Calif. / Buena). The Poets had an otherwise tougher time of getting anything going against the Bulldogs' starting pitcher as compared to Friday's game, as Saturday's home team succeeded in cutting down the free passes that helped pave the way Whittier' Friday victory.

Saturday Game 2: Redlands 5, Whittier 2

In a rare first, the Poets and Bulldogs were able to notch the same score twice in the same day, albeit in two very different games. This time, the Poets used four different pitchers to scatter five runs across nine innings with freshman Teige Barrett (San Diego, Calif. / Mira Mesa) earning the start. The hard-throwing righty was wildly effective on Saturday afternoon, allowing just one hit to go with three punchouts in just three innings. Sophomore Zach Kennedy (Sacramento, Calif. / Capital) followed him, seniors Andrew Chavez (West Covina, Calif. / South Hills) and Nate Bacosa (San Jose, Calif. / Bellarmine Prep) combined to account for the Poets' final five outs of the game. One less-than-ideal seventh inning ultimately did Whittier in, but prior to that the Poets held the Bulldogs to just one run through six, an impressive feat and a testament to the improvements the Poets' pitchers have made down the stretch.

The Purple & Gold did open the game with a lead, however, thanks to a pair of fielding errors from the home team. Sherman, who reached base on an error from the third baseman, went on to score off another error from the same player to stake the Poets to a 1-0 lead early. The Poets would once again have to contend with improved command from the Bulldogs' staff, but did manage to scratch a second run across in the eighth inning when said command failed the home team one last time, resulting in Berber drawing a free pass to score Guerrero. The freshman first baseman and starting pitcher emerged as a legitimate two-way option for the Poets this season, leading the team in home runs with six and RBI's with 25 in addition to finishing second on the team in innings pitched only to Kennedy.

Head Coach Mike Rizzo and the Poets are set to lose 10 seniors to graduation, but will enjoy having the majority of their roster back next year with some added experience under their belts as well as some familiarity with one another coming off the first full season of baseball in three years.

Follow and show support for your Whittier Poets on Twitter (@WCPoets), Facebook, YouTube and Instagram (@PoetAthletics)!