Sagehen Captains Homer in Split with Whittier

After falling 4-2 Whittier College in the first game of the double-header, the Pomona-Pitzer softball team came back in the second game, showcasing their power as all three senior captains hit homeruns to lead the team to a 8-7 extra inning victory.

The first game remained a pitching duel until the third inning when Whittier broke the game open, scoring four runs with the help of back-to-back home runs from Amanda Carrasco (’10) and Vicy Ovieda (’09). On the mound, Sagehen pitcher Melanie Gularte (PI ’10) kept the Poets scoreless for the remainder of the game, but the third inning rally proved to be enough for Whittier to take the win. In the top of the seventh Pomona-Pitzer fought back when Emily Buika (PI ’12) scored on an RBI double down the left field line from Jamie Goldberg (PO ’11). Allison Ritter (PI ’11) then hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Brianna Marcantoni (PI ’12), putting the Sagehens within two runs. On the next play however, Goldberg was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second base on an infield error, ending the game.

In the second game, the Sagehens battled back, as senior captain Leanna Guillermo (PI ’09) hit a two-run homerun to put the Sagehens on the board in the second inning. Whittier answered right back, puting a run on the board in the bottom of the second with a homerun of their own. The Poets went ahead 3-2 in the third inning when Carrasco hit an RBI double to score two runs. Pomona-Pitzer fought back in the fifth as Arianna Roach (PI ’12) hit an RBI single to tie the game up at 3-3. In the sixth, the Sagehens went ahead 5-3, when another senior captain, Mackenzie Smith (PO ’09), hit a two-run homer. The Poets tied the game in the sixth, and neither team scored in the seventh, bringing the game to extra innings. In the eighth inning, the Sagehens third senior captain, Christine Calderon (PO ’09), hit a two-run homerun to put the Sagehens up 7-5. In the bottom of the eighth Whittier put another run on the board, but it wasn’t enough and the Sagehens took the win 7-6.

- Jamie Goldberg (PO, '11)