WHITTIER, Calif. (Mar. 16, 2024) – The Whittier College softball team split games with one of its toughest foes to date in Williams College on Monday afternoon -- and had to battle lightning delays along the way to do it.
However, the Poets would go on to complete both games with the Ephs, besting the Massachusetts school in the first game of the series while having opportunities in the darkness-shortened second game of the day.
Game 1: Whittier 6, Williams 5
Whittier overcame Williams' power bats early in the game to hang five unanswered runs on the Ephs over the final two innings of Monday's first game. While the heroics can't be attributed to any one player, several had a key hand in the outcome. Senior outfielder
Lindsey Perry (Corona, Calif. / Santiago) continued her hot start to the season by reaching base in every at-bat and drawing three walks. She parlayed her on-base success into two runs, including the game-tying run on the deciding play. Senior
Marissa Flynn (Covina, Calif. / South Hills) drove the ball into lefter center field to score not only Perry, but senior first baseman
Emily Adkison (Laguna Niguel, Calif. / Mater Dei), who served as the deciding run for the Purple & Gold.
Adkison contributed earlier in the inning by finding the spot in left center herself, scoring freshman
Daniella Contreras (Buena Park, Calif. / John F. Kennedy). However, none of this would have been possible without a big fifth inning that saw the Poets capitalize on a key Williams mistake to cut the deficit from five runs to three. With the bases loaded, junior infielder
Kelly Nutter (Carlsbad, Calif. / La Costa Canyon High School) placed a ball that none of three Ephs in the vicinity were able to call, causing the ball to drop in for a hit and score both Flynn and Perry. Without this play, the Poets would have been looking at digging out of a five run hole to start the sixth.
Junior pitcher
Olivia Nunez (Placentia, Calif. / Valencia High School) slammed the door shut on the Ephs and earned her first win of the season with flawless work out of the bullpen. Over her two innings of work, Nunez allowed nary a base runner and made things hard for the visitors with her pitch selection. She also achieved the six outs on just 15 pitches, and her efficiency would allow her to take the mound to start Game 2.
Game 2: Williams 3, Whittier 2 (5 inn.)
The second game featured a more lower-scoring fair, in part due to the start-stop nature of the action. The two teams endured more than an hour-and-a-half of delays stemming from lightning in the local vicinity, in addition to a quick rain shower that opened the second game of the day.
Nevertheless, the Poets put themselves in a position to win thanks to their strong defense in the field and pitching. Nunez started the second game of the day and had to contend with the Ephs' big, physical athletes at the dish. Nevertheless, the junior came through in spite of the delays and shrugged off a solo home run in the second inning that would be the only hit she would allow all day. This allowed her team to nearly take the lead in the third after Nutter singled up the middle to score Flynn and Adkison.
With the looming darkness threatening the officiality of the game, the Poets worked quickly, but played good softball at the dish, on the cases and in the field, and showed why they remain a SCIAC contender. They also showed good plate discipline, with Adkison, Flynn, Contreras, and freshman catcher
Brooklyn Umali (San Diego, Calif. / Mt. Carmel High School) all registering walks in the game.
Head Coach
Trisha Senyo and the Poets will resume SCIAC play this weekend when they travel to Chapman University for two games on Saturday, Mar. 23 before hosting the third games of the series with the Panthers on Sunday, Mar. 24.
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