WHITTIER, Calif. (April 25, 2009) – Kieran
Doherty homered in his second consecutive game, this time
with a grand slam in game one of a twin bill at Whittier College.
Although the Tigers fell 7-6 in the opener, they used the momentum
supplied by the senior utility man coupled with a complete game
from Noel Banuelos to earn a 7-3 victory in the
rubber game of the weekend series.
Down 2-0 entering the third inning, Richie
Veihl led off with a single before scoring the first
Tigers' run of the game following a sequence of Poets'
miscues. With one out leadoff man Kevin Ozaki drew
a walk before Daniel Kelley singled and
Jason Jebbia was hit by a pitch to load the bases
for Doherty who with one swing of the bat cleared the bags and put
the Tigers ahead 5-2.
Whittier came back with a run in the bottom of the fourth and
Oxy answered with one of their own in the sixth when
Anthony Salsedo scored on a Nick
Saraceni sacrifice bunt to make it 6-3.
Occidental starter Brooks Belter struck out
four and scattered seven hits over 5.0 innings before giving way to
Doherty. After retiring the side in order in the sixth, Doherty got
knocked around in the seventh, allowing two runs as the Poets cut
the deficit o 6-5. Ross Pomerantz (1-5) took over
on the hill with the bases loaded and no outs and got out of the
inning unscathed. In the eight inning it was a different story as
WC freshman Austin Straus stroked a two-run single to give the
Poets a 7-6 victory as Oxy was unable to score in the top of the
ninth.
The Tigers regrouped between games and came out firing on all
cylinders, never trailing as they earned a 7-3 game two victory.
Salsedo drew a leadoff walk and Kelley doubled down the right
field line to set up a two-RBI single to left off the bat of
Glenn Gray. The Tigers added runs in each inning
between the third and sixth. Saraceni scored one, driving in
another. Jebbia tripled down the right field line, plating Kelley
for the second time of the game. Kelley, who was 3-for-3, also
drove in Salsedo who doubled to kick-start a two-out rally.
Whittier (12-25, 6-12 SCIAC) put together three hits in the
fifth to score a pair of runs, but Banuelos promptly forced the
next two batters to pop out, ending the inning. The only other run
that the Poets would produce came in the ninth when left fielder
Anthony Cappelletti doubled to lead it off before stealing third
and scoring the final WC run of the game.
Both Jebbia and Steve Schaffer had multi-hit
games in the opener while Saraceni, Salsedo and Kelley picked up
multiple hits apiece in game two.
Banuelos (2-6) went all 9.0 innings, striking out three,
scattering six hits and allowing just three runs.
The Tigers will return to the friendly confines of Anderson
Field for the final home game of the 2009 season when they host the
Caltech Beavers for a single game beginning at 3:00 p.m. Seniors
will be recognized prior to first pitch.
