WHITTIER, Calif. (Mar. 5, 2024) – The Whittier College softball team kicked off what will be one of the busiest weeks at home of the 2024 regular season with two games against Baldwin Wallace University on Tuesday afternoon. The Yellow Jackets were runner-ups in the Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) one year ago, and proved to be a formidable early season test for the Purple & Gold.
Game 1: Whittier 11, Baldwin Wallace 3
The Poets were able to secure a win in five innings in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader. They did it by finding their power stroke early and often, with senior first baseman and leadoff hitter
Emily Adkison (Laguna Niguel, Calif. / Mater Dei) opening the game with a mammoth home run into center field. Freshman
Lily Stell (Burbank, Calif. / Burbank) knocked one into right center field later the very same inning, scoring junior catcher
Maya Palos (Monterey Park, Calif. / Schurr) in the process.
Whittier's offense came at mostly equal opportunity, as the Poets managed to produce runs in four out of five innings. They provided more than ample run support for starting pitcher
Kiley Kraft (Alhambra, Calif. / Ramona Convent Secondary School) who allowed just six hits over her 4.1 innings of work. Junior
Olivia Nunez (Placentia, Calif. / Valencia) ended up finishing off the game, though the Poet bats largely made that call with the game ending the way it started, with Adkison crossing home plate. With a four run lead in hand, senior corner infielder
Marissa Flynn (Covina, Calif. / South Hills) knocked in her classmate on the other side of the diamond with a well-hit double into left center field. This, after Adkison reached on a fielding error that would have ended the inning, but instead directly led to the end of the game by way of mercy rule (eight run lead after five innings).
In all, Whittier had four of its 12 hits go for extra bases, though three were home runs. In addition to Stell and Adkison, Palos also went yard for the first time this season. Her home run came during a third inning where freshman
Daniella Contreras (Buena Park, Calif. / John F. Kennedy) was also able to scratch junior second baseman
Kelly Nutter (Carlsbad, Calif. / La Costa Canyon) across home on a single through the left side. The rookie tied Adkison for a team-best three RBIs thanks to her clutch hitting, while Adkison continued her hugely impressive streak of having not struck out during this season – or last.
Game 2: Baldwin Wallace 7, Whittier 6
Whittier had a handful of opportunities to make a statement by sweeping a tough Yellow Jackets team, but Baldwin Wallace came ready to compete in Game 2 and went move-for-move with the talented Poets lineup.
No Whittier player raked, however, quite like senior
Lindsey Perry (Corona, Calif. / Santiago) did in this game. The right fielder went a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish with two doubles, three runs scored and two RBIs. She nearly homered into left in the fourth inning, but instead managed to leg out a double before reaching third on the throw. She did, however, manage to score Nutter on the play, ultimately giving her side a 4-3 lead in the fourth inning.
Senior middler infielder
Heaven Wolf (Montebello, Calif. / Schurr) matched Perry's productivity to some extent, settling into the ninth spot in the lineup with three RBIs on a pair of hits. However, for every spurt of offense the Poets could muster, the Yellow Jackets successfully matched and vice versa, and the end of the game was no exception. Palos opened the inning on a single, and some clutch base running from
Sarah Luna (Downey, Calif. / Downey) in a pinch-runner role figured to have the Poets at least one run in the bottom seventh to force extra innings. However, the Baldwin Wallace center fielder made a great read on a drive from Nutter into center field, making the sliding catch to ultimately end the game, though any other outcome would have seen the game likely advance to extras.
Head Coach
Trisha Senyo and the Poets will return to Palmer Field on Wednesday, Mar. 6, when they host Baldwin Wallace's Cleveland neighbors, John Carroll University, for a doubleheader beginning at 12:30 p.m.
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