WHITTIER, Calif. (Feb. 2, 2024) – The Whittier College softball team started its 2025 season off right with a 10-2 win over La Sierra University on Sunday afternoon. Senior shortstop
Kelly Nutter (Carlsbad, Calif. / La Costa Canyon Cal State San Marcos | Palomar College) stepped up to the plate -- literally -- and delivered a huge three-hit performance to lead the Poets. Sunday's game is also notable for the Poets securing their first victory under new Head Coach
Terry Schweikert.
Whittier's big inning came in the fourth when they hung eight runs on the Golden Eagles thanks to good, hard and consistent contact with the bats. Freshman catcher
Mariah Rodriguez (Barstow, Calif. / Barstow) got things started with a single through the right side before
Maya Palos (Monterey Park, Calif. / Schurr), Whittier's regular catcher who made her first-career start at first base, smashed a double into left field. From there, the Poets would log six more hits, two of which belonged to shortstop Nutter. The impressive junior had a pair of scored runs and RBIs to go with her 3-for-3 afternoon at the dish.
The Golden Eagles ultimately did not have the firepower to compete with Whittier's eight-run fourth inning. The visitors did manage to scratch another run across in the fifth to take them out of mercy rule territory, but the Poets responded in the bottom sixth, needing just two at-bats to end the game via mercy rule. First, sophomore
Daniella Contreras (Buena Park, Calif. / John F. Kennedy), one of the Poets' most consistent game-to-game hitters in 2024, reached on an error from the opposing shortstop. Then, Rodriguez rocked a double into left field that initially advanced her teammate to third, but another error from the La Sierra shortstop ultimately led to the game-winning run. Other notable Whittier performers at the plate included newcomer
Arianna Salazar (San Diego, Calif. / Clairemont / University of Saint Katherine | San Diego Mesa College), who went 2-for-3 while leading the team with three RBIs, and senior leadoff hitter
Sara Luna (Downey, Calif. / Downey), who notched a pair of RBIs herself.
On the mound, the Poets received a collaboration from veteran pitchers
Olivia Nunez (Placentia, Calif. / Valencia / Fullerton College) and
Bella Peinado (Ventura, Calif. / Ventura). Nunez got the starting nod, throwing three innings before giving way to Peinado, who also threw three innings. Both pitchers showed they can still pitch to contact with great effectiveness, holding the visitors to a combined six hits in six innings. Given the Poets' breakout fourth inning, Peinado would ultimately come away with the winning decision.
Schweikert and the Poets will have some time to recuperate before going on the road to Chapman University on Valentine's Day to start their first three-game SCIAC series of the season.
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