LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Feb. 26, 2008) – In
what proved to be a historic day at Anderson Field Occidental
College defeated the University of Redlands 9-2 in Southern
California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action, marking the
first time the Tigers defeated the Bulldogs during Head Coach
Elliott Strankman's tenure.
Occidental used the days of rain to refocus
and it showed as the 11 men stepped to the plate in a first inning
that included four hits, three hit batters and a walk. With the
bases loaded, junior right fielder Spencer
Woolwine sent an opposite field homerun over the right
field wall to put the Tigers up 7-1.
A cushion to work with settled freshman
southpaw Ross Pomerantz who tossed 6.0 innings
allowing no earned runs while striking out three. He walked five
and scattered eight hits, but only one was extra bases as
Redlands' Luke Wetemore doubled in the sixth. Pomerantz
recorded his first win of the season, also marking his first
collegiate victory.
Woolwine's arm proved to be as powerful
as his swing as he ended the third firing a bullet from right field
in to catcher Adam Franks who tagged
out his counterpart Jefre Johnson by three
steps.
“That play was huge for us,” said
Franks. “We were able to kill the Redlands momentum early and
shut them down. That gave our guys a lift that we
needed.”
Oxy scored their final two runs of the game in
the second and seventh innings respectively. First baseman transfer
Ryan Falck walked and scored on an error to give
the Tigers their eighth run of the game. Richie
Veihl led off the seventh with a walk and scored on a
double by freshman shortstop Case Miyahira.
Franks accounted for two of the Tigers'
six hits. Veihl and Falck each reached base three times and scored
twice.
After facing two batters in the sixth
Pomerantz handed the ball over to Kieran Doherty
who earned a three inning save, allowing four hits and a walk while
striking out one.
The Bulldogs got on the board in the first,
but didn't score again until the ninth.
Strankman called today's win special for
the senior players.
“This win represents everything that we
have been fighting for over the past four years,” Franks went
on, “Everything is coming together for us and now our program
will earn some respect from the other schools around our
conference.”
Oxy baseball has grown significantly over the
past three years and the progress is now being seen. “This
was a statement game for our program,” offered Strankman
“Our program is continuing to move in a positive direction
and this is a huge step for us.”
With the victory the Tigers improve to 3-4 and
now hold a 1-2 SCIAC record. Redlands falls to 9-2, 2-1.
The Tigers will travel to Claremont, Calif. on
Friday to play the defending SCIAC Champion Pomona-Pitzer Sagehens
at 2:30. The series will conclude with a double header at Anderson
Field on Saturday, March 1. First pitch is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.
