WHITTIER, Calif. (Mar. 24, 2024) – Junior pitcher
Olivia Nunez (Placentia, Calif. / Valencia | Fullerton College) of the Whittier College softball team threw a complete game, her first of the year, to lift the Poets to their second SCIAC victory of the season against Chapman University in the first of a three game series on Sunday afternoon.
The Poets were initially scheduled to face the Panthers in Orange for a doubleheader on Saturday, but the rainy conditions had other plans for the two teams. Nevertheless, the Poets picked things up on Sunday and received a sterling performance from one of the new additions to the pitching staff. Nunez pitched to contact with effectiveness, scattering several Chapman hits over the seven-inning game without issuing a single free pass. Moreover, she bottled up any power the Panthers could muster, with just one of the visitors' hits going for extra bases.
Her teammates staked her to a 3-0 early, with all of the damage coming off the bat of senior shortstop
Heaven Wolf (Montebello, Calif. / Schurr | Rio Hondo College). Wolf entered the game with the team RBI lead despite hitting ninth for the majority of the season, and extended her lead with a clean shot into right center field that sent three of her teammates home. Her bases-clearing double scored junior catcher
Maya Palos (Monterey Park, Calif. / Schurr), freshman outfielder
Daniella Contreras (Buena Park, Calif. / John F. Kennedy), and sophomore outfielder
Lucy Brooks (San Jose, Calif. / Valley Christian), who entered the game in a pinch-hitting capacity early and remained in the game through the duration of the contest.
Nunez ultimately did well with limiting Chapman to grounders, but the Panthers still managed to challenge the Poet defense at times. Junior second baseman
Kelly Nutter (Carlsbad, Calif. / La Costa Canyon | Cal State San Marcos) made a handful of defensive stops at second base to take the life out of any rally the Panthers can muster, and one particular play from Brooks in center field might have saved the game. A ball that ultimately rolled out of play staked the Panthers to a runner on second to start the inning, and while the ensuing batter grounded into a fielder's choice, the Poets' throw spilled into the outfield where Brooks picked the ball up and fired down to Palos to beat the runner in the nick of time. The exceptional heads-up play galvanized Nunez, who came back out for the seventh and retired the side in order to secure her second win of the week, as well as the season.
Head Coach
Trisha Senyo and the Poets are tentatively scheduled to resume their three-game series with the Panthers on Tuesday, Mar. 26 in Orange, and will also notably host No. 3 Linfield College on Thursday, Mar. 28.
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