WHITTIER, Calif. (Feb. 3, 2023)- Whittier baseball opened up their season today in a matchup against the visiting Puget Sound Loggers. The Poets got off to a great start, but were not able to hold it down in the second half of the game and eventually fell 13-4. 

True freshman, Aaron Cazares opened up on the hill for the Poets and looked sharp as he made his college debut. He was able to retire the Loggers 1-2-3 in the top of the first, including his first strikeout. 

Whittier was able to get on the board in the bottom of the second, thanks to a big 1 out rally. Lew Rice came up and singled to right field, while Cameron Gray and Jackson Brummett followed him up by getting on by HBP. Jay Schulze, another freshman, was then able to come up with the bases loaded and score Rice on a sac fly. 

In the bottom of the third, the Poets got another run on the board with Maximus Berber's single driving in Nathan Sherman, who was on second after hitting a leadoff double. 

The Loggers were able to jump on the board in the fourth with a double to left field, but the Poets still had a 2-1 lead.

The Poets were able to extend the lead in the fifth, as Sherman and Dane Goodman singled to start the inning. Rice then came back up with 2 outs and tripled into the left center gap to bring home another 2 runs. 

The sixth inning was the turning point of the game as the Loggers were finally able to figure Cazares out and tagged him for 5 runs. Matthew Helguera then came in and could not bring the bleeding to a stop and Puget Sound ended the top half of the inning with a 9-4 lead. 

Puget Sound was able to score 4 more runs in the eighth and wound-up taking a 13-4 victory. 

Rice and Sherman were the two hot bats for the Poets in today's game, as they were able to collect 2 hits apiece. Whittier will look to wake some of their other bats up tomorrow, when they take on Puget Sound once again in a double-header game. The first game will begin at 10:30 and you can follow along using live stats or tuning into the Whittier College Sports Network youtube page. 

Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

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