LOS ANGELES, Calif. (Feb. 7, 2010) – Occidental College
spilt a double-header today with Whitworth College on Anderson
Field, winning game one 9-6 before falling 7-5 in a seven inning
second game.
In game one Oxy trailed 5-0 through four innings, but the Tiger
bats came alive in the fifth, pushing three runs across the plate
when Jason Jebbia drove in a pair on a single up
the middle before Stephen Hilliard connected for
an RBI double to centerfield. Occidental added two in the sixth as
Casey Harms led off with a single, scoring on a
single off the bat of Daniel Kelley. Hilliard then
lifted a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Kelley, tying the game.
Whitworth scored an unearned run in the top of the seventh to
take a 6-5 lead, but the Tigers came back in the bottom of the
frame to score four on four consecutive hits.
After Brooks Belter tossed 6.1 innings,
striking out nine, Ross Pomerantz came on in
relief to earn the win. He threw 2.2 innings, allowing just one
hit, striking out two while surrendering no runs.
Occidental stole 10 bases in the first game with Logan
Allen swiping four and Jebbia stealing three.
Whitworth scored three runs in the first three innings on seven
hits, before the Tigers got on the board. In the fourth Jebbia led
off with a single, before Hilliard drew a walk. Kelley then drove
in Jebbia with a single and Harms followed suit with an RBI double
to left field. Kevin Ozaki lifted a sac fly to
left, scoring Kelley, knotting the score at 3-3.
Neither team scored over the next two innings, but in the top of
the seventh, the final inning scheduled, Whitworth's JR
Jarrell and Kyle Krustangel hit back-to-back homeruns, the first a
three run shot, to take a 7-3 lead.
The Tigers plated a pair in the bottom of the inning, but the
deficit was too much to overcome as they dropped their first game
of the season.
Hilliard tossed 6.1 innings before Pomerantz again took the hill
for the final two outs. Each surrendered a homerun in the final
frame. Hilliard got the loss but struck out five and scattered 10
hits and six runs in his pitching debut.
Ben George got the win for Whitworth and James King came on in
relief to pick up the win for the Pirates.
Overall today Kelley and Jebbia collected four hits apiece while
Harms, Allen and Dale Garrett connected for three
apiece. Hilliard drove in three and Allen scored four times. Jebbia
crossed the plate three times. Allen was 5-for-5 on the base paths
today and Jebbia was 4-for-5.
Occidental will travel to Anthem, Ariz. on Wednesday to play in
a four-day tournament with three other SCIAC schools and four
schools from the Northwest Conference.
Article by: Tracy Maple, Sports
Information Director
