WHITTIER, CA. (February 16, 2025)- The Whittier College Poets played games 2 and 3 of the series against the Lewis & Clark Pioneers Sunday at home. The Poets could not quite get any going today dropping the first game by a final score of 4-14 and the second by a score of 4-11.
Game 1:
Lewis & Clark got off to a hot start in this game, knocking a first inning grand slam to put Whittier in the early hole. After another homer in the second inning, the Pioneers held a 6-0 lead over the Poets.
Whittier got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second.
Maximus Berber (Riverside, Calif., Ramona) smoked a 2-out triple in the gap and was brought into score on an
Andrew Griffin (Colton, Calif., San Bernardino Valley) single through the right side. The Purple and Gold would strike again in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Sevon Battle (Las Vegas, Nev., Baker College) got things going with a double and was brought into score on a
Matthew Mecate (Highland, Calif., CSU Dominguez Hills) double. Then
Joe Plaskett (Fremont, Calif., Washington) roped one up the middle to score Mecate. The Poets were now only trailing 6-3.
The Pioneers were not going to let this game get away from them though and 8 total runs in the top of the sixth and seventh innings. The Poets scratched one more across in the bottom of the seventh.
Thomas Iten came in with a pinch-hit double and came around to score later in the inning.
The Poets would drop this game by a final score of 4-14, as they looked ahead to the final game of the series. A bright spot in this game was freshman
Carter Calkin (Kirkland, Wash., Bellevue Christian School) who threw 2 ? scoreless innings for Whittier in his collegiate debut.
Game 2:
Once again Lewis & Clark was able to jump out to the early lead. They slowly built their lead with 3 runs in the first, 1 in the second, and 1 in the fifth. The Poets were trailing 5-0 headed to the bottom of the 5th.
Whittier showed a spark in the fifth with
Parker Eastwood Lilles (Vancouver, B.C., Canada, Saint Georges School) and
Jackson Brummett (Huntington Beach, Calif., Huntington Beach) back-to-back doubles. Brummett brought home the Poets first run and was sent over to third on a Battle single up the middle. Iten then laced a ball to left field to bring Brummett home. The score was now a much closer 5-2.
However, the Pioneer offense was too much today as they would score 6 more unanswered runs to take an 11-2 lead. In the bottom of the ninth,
Spencer Jenkins (Bakersfield, Calif., Menlo College) doubled to start things off.
Rayden Miguel (Ewa Beach, Hawaii, Moanalua) then pinch-ran for Jenkins and came across the plate on a
Collin O'Driscoll (Belmont, Calif., College of San Mateo) single.
Jay Schulze (Huntington Beach, Calif., Huntington Beach) then was hit by a pitch with bases loaded and brought across the Poets final run of the day. The final score of this game would be 4-11.
Battle and Iten would each record multiple hits this game, but the Poet bats could not take advantage of some opportunities today. The Purple and Gold will have a long break before returning to conference play on February 28th. They will be hosting the number 18th ranked University of La Verne Leopards on Friday the 28th at 2:30.
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