BELTON, TX. (Mar. 13, 2024)- The Whittier College Poets concluded their long Texas trip with a great team victory against the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor Crusaders. The Poets have been excellent this year facing off against top teams and today marked the third time they took down a nationally ranked one. The two teams swung the bat well today, but it was Whittier that would hold on to claim the 13-10 victory over the #20 ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor. 

The game remained scoreless in the first inning, but the Poets were able to strike first in the top of the second. Luis Guillermo Chavarin Jr. (Fullerton, Calif., Sonora HS, Cerritos College) started the inning off with a single to center field and advanced to second base on a Nathan Sherman (Ventura, Calif., Buena HS) SAC bunt. Later in the inning, Jesse Mendoza (Chino Hills, Calif., Chino Hills HS) singled a knock of his own and brought Chavarin home to give the Poets a 1-0 lead. The Crusaders answered in the bottom half of the inning scoring 3 and capturing the lead. 

Whittier answered in a big way, recapturing the lead in the top half of the third inning and never looking back from there. Starting the inning off, Ian Watanabe (Lodi, Calif., Lodi HS) singled to third base and Teige Barrett (San Diego, Calif., Mira Mesa HS) got hit by a pitch. Lew Rice (Walkerton, Va., IMG Academy) then went oppo and sliced a ball deep into the left-center field gap that brought Barrett and Watanabe around to score. An error on the next play allowed Rice to score and Maximus Berber (Riverside, Calif., Ramona HS) to reach base. Then three straight Whittier hitters were hit by pitches and loaded the bases. Mendoza was credited with his second RBI of the day as he wore the pitch with bases loaded and Berber scored. Peyton Collier (Honolulu, Hawaii, Mid-Pacific HS) came up then and hit a hard grounder up the middle that the defense could not handle and 2 more runs came across. At the end of the inning the Poets had tacked on 6 more runs and were leading 7-3. Mary-Hardin managed to get 2 more runs across in the bottom half of the inning, as the teams were trading blows back and forth. 

The team was not going to let the Crusaders back in this game. They managed to get 4 more runs in the fourth inning on the back of 6 hits and another 2 RBIs from Mendoza. However, the Crusaders once again answered with 2 of their own. At the end of the fourth the Poets lead 11-7. 

Whittier managed to get 2 more runs to come across the plate for the rest of the game. Rice doubled in the fifth and used his wheels to steal third and home on an overthrow, to bring their total to 12. Then in the top half of the eighth, Abe Bullard (Paynesville, Minn., Paynesville HS) came into pinch-hit. On the first pitch he saw, Bullard launched a ball that hooked right around the left-field foul pole to add one more insurance run for the Poets. 

Aaron Cazares (Eastvale, Calif., Norco HS) and Berber were the 2 workhorses on the mound for Whittier today. The two combined to go 6.2 innings, recording 4 strikeouts, and holding down a red-hot Crusaders lineup. Owen Moore (Austin, Texas, St. Michael's Catholic Academy) came in after Cazares and did his job getting 2 outs before handing the ball over to Barrett to close it out. Barrett came in and slammed the door on the Mary-Hardin team, as Whittier earned the 13-10. 

This was a bashing fest for both teams, combining for a total of 28 hits. Mendoza, Rice, and Chavarin each had multiple hits for the Poets. Mendoza paced the way with 4 RBIs, while Rice and Collier added 2 of their own. This was an excellent team victory and a great way for Whittier to end their Texas trip. They will now return home and have a week off before playing host to Tufts University. The Poets will take on the Jumbos in a 3-game series beginning on Friday, March 22 at 3:00. This will be another tough matchup as Tufts has been in the conversation of the nationally ranked teams all season, but Whittier has had no problem taking on tough competition.