WHITTIER, CA. (April 12, 2025)- The Poets continued their series against the Caltech Beavers on Saturday with a doubleheader at home. Whittier was able to continue to swing the hot bats in the first game coming away with a 10-0 victory in 7 innings. In the third game of the series though the Poet bats went cold as the Beavers were able to capture this one by a final score of 3-2. Despite this loss in the third game, Whittier was able to secure the 2-1 series victory over conference foe Caltech.
GAME 1:
In the first game of the doubleheader the Poets jumped out early and never looked back. In the first inning,
Coehn Nakasone (Aiea, Hawaii, Mid-Pacific) and
Sevon Battle (Las Vegas, Nev., Baker College) had back-to-back singles and were brought in to score on
Matthew Mecate's (Highland, Calif., CSU Dominguez Hills) first home run of the year, a 3-run shot over the right field fence. As the inning continued,
Joe Plaskett (Fremont, Calif., Washington) doubled and
Ian Watanabe (Lodi, Calif., Lodi) and
Spencer Jenkins (Bakersfield, Calif., Menlo College) were walked to load the bases.
Jackson Brummett (Huntington Beach, Calif., Huntington Beach) managed to get one more run in for the Poets with a grounder to shortstop, and Whittier would have a 4-0 lead at the end of the first.
Maximus Berber (Riverside, Calif., Ramona) was on the mound for the Poets, so the Beavers offense was up for a difficult task. Berber was dominating on the mound, and neither team was able to put runs up in the second and third innings.
Then in the bottom of the fourth, the Poets added onto their lead. Brummett started the inning off with a single through the left side and advanced to second on a
Collin O'Driscoll (Belmont, Calif., College of San Mateo) walk.
Ty Aldridge (Hayward, Calif., Allegheny College) then did his job and laid down a perfectly placed SAC bunt to move both runners into scoring position. The next batter Battle got a pitch up and hit a SAC fly to center field that allowed Bummett to score.
With the score 5-0, the Poets headed to the bottom of the sixth inning. Whittier would send 9 batters to the plate this inning on their way to 5 more runs. O'Driscoll started things with a big triple and was brought home by the Aldridge RBI-single. Battle then drew a walk and Mecate brought Aldridge in with a single. After a wild pitch, Battle was on third and Mecate second for Plaskett up at the plate. The Poet right fielder laced a ball through the right side that scored both runners and the Poets now held a 9-0 lead. Jenkins then got in on the action bringing home another run for Whittier with his third hit of the day.
Whittier now held a 10-0 lead headed to the top of the seventh. Berber took the mound and retired the Caltech batters in a row to secure the 7-inning mercy of the Beavers.
The Poets had earned this 10-0 victory over the Beavers to secure their first conference win of the season.
Key Performances:
Matthew Mecate: 2-for-4, 2 R, 4 RBI, HR
Spencer Jenkins: 3-for-3, RBI, BB
Collin O'Driscoll: 1-for-2, 3B, R, BB
Maximus Berber: 7 IP, 3 HA, 0 R, 8 K
GAME 2:
In the final game of the series, the Poets' bats fell asleep. They managed a strong pitching performance, but ultimately 1 pitch changed the outcome of this game.
Neither team scored in the first 4 innings of play, as
Owen Moore (Austin, Texas, St Michael's Catholic Academy), on the mound, was able to keep the Beavers from crossing the plate. Whittier finally scratched one across in the bottom of the fifth inning. Plaskett started the inning off with a walk before Jenkins was able to reach on an error SAC bunt to put runners on first and second. After
Gama Martinez (Highland, Calif., Arrowhead Christian) SAC bunted the runners to second and third, Plaskett scored on a wild pitch to make the score 1-0. Jenkins was then brought in to score on a Berber groundout to put the score at 2-0.
Then in the top of the sixth, the Beavers got their first 2 hitters on and in scoring position. But with 2-outs Caltech hit a home run over the left field fence, making the score 3-2 Caltech.
This is how the score would remain for the rest of the game as neither team could get anything going. Despite this 3-2 loss, the Poets managed to win the series over the Beavers.
Key Performances:
Spencer Jenkins: 1-for-2, R, SAC
Owen Moore: 5 IP, 4 HA, 1 ER, 3 K
Aaron Cazares: 2 IP, 0 HA, 3 K
The Poets will have another challenging week coming up, as they take on the ranked Cal Lutheran Kingsmen in a 3-game series next weekend. The first game of the series will be played Friday in Whittier, with first pitch set for 3:00.
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