WHITTIER, Calif. (March 24, 2023)- The Poets took on the Pacific Lutheran University Lutes today in a non-conference battle. Whittier played well throughout this game and broke away at the end to seal a 9-5 victory. 

Freshman, Aaron Cazares once again toed the rubber for the Poets and pitched phenomenal. The young stud pitched 5.2 innings allowing only 1 run, with 6 strikeouts on his way to the victory. 

Whittier jumped on the Lutes early in this game, with Nathan Sherman and Dane Goodman leading off the bottom of the first with singles. The scorching hot Lew Rice then came to bat and drove in Sherman to give the Poets a 1 run lead. 

The men continued to swing the bat well during the second Jay Schulze and James Stirton both singled to start the inning; they were moved over to second and third with a Sherman SAC bunt. Next, Goodman came up and hit a SAC fly to move both runners up a base, scoring Schulze. Stirton was then able to come around and score on Teige Barrett's double. The Poets were now leading 3-0.

The game remained quite for most of the following innings, with the Lutes scoring just 1 run. Suddenly, in the seventh the Poets bats woke back up. Goodman lead the inning off by wearing a pitch off the helmet, Barrett then smashed another double, finally Rice brought them both home on a single. Ian Watanabe came to the plate next and knocked a pinch-hit single. Luis Chavarin Jr. and Jackson Brummett were able to bring home 2 more runs this inning extending Whittier's lead 7-1. 

Pacific Lutheran was able to make a small comeback in the eighth, scoring 4 runs and bringing the game to 7-5. Barrett, who came in to pitch at the end of the eighth and stop the scoring, though wanted this win and provided himself some insurance runs with a single that scored 2 more. 

Barrett slammed the door on the mound in the ninth to give the Poets a 9-5 victory. This was the fourth victory of the year for Whittier, tying their season total from last year. 

Whittier was once again clicking at the plate today and put together a great pitching performance as well. Barrett was the star of the game going 3-5 at the plate with 2 doubles and 3 RBIs, while also coming into to get the last 5 outs of the game. Rice was great at the plate once again going 3-4, with 3 RBIs and a walk. Stirton also provided the Poets with multiple hits. 

This was a great overall team effort and led to a big Whittier win. The Poets took the first game of the series against PLU, but will have them again tomorrow for a doubleheader. The men will look to continue their play and get their first series win of the year. The first game of the day will start at 11:00 at home. 

Photo: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com

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