Game 1: Occidental 2, Whitworth 1 (Final)

Box Score

LOS ANGELES — With the tying run on third base and the go-ahead run on second in the top of the seventh, Oxy reliever David Feasler (Park City, Utah) got JR Jarrell to ground out to third, then Scott Hong (Los Angeles) closed out his first game as a Tiger in the ninth inning, preserving the Occidental College baseball team's 2-1 lead and giving Oxy the win in in the first game of a double header with Whitworth University on Saturday.

Tigers starter Joseph Kling gave up just one run in 6.2 innings pitched before Feasler came on to put out the fire in a situation that looked similar to the one Oxy lost on the day before.

Whitworth's Tyler Pfeffer hit a pair of home runs on Friday, one a two-run bomb that foiled an Oxy lead in the eighth just after Oxy starter Tyler Eyrich (Stevenson Ranch) checked out with a 2-1 lead. Saturday, Pfeffer stepped into the batter's box with a chance to put the Pirates up, but Feasler made sure the Tigers didn't blow late leads on consecutive days.

Feasler walked Pfeffer, then forced Jarrell to ground out to third, ending the inning.

Feasler got through the eighth unscathed, then Hong struck out one batter in a 1-2-3 ninth for Oxy.

Earlier in the game, Oxy's Victor Munoz came up with the big hit that proved to be the difference.

After Oxy second baseman Dan Kelley (Kirkland, Wash.) drove in A.J. Libunao (Huntington Beach) on a ground out to second base in the fourth inning, freshman catcher Victor Munoz (La Verne) hit his first career home run as a Tiger, giving Oxy a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the fourth.

Landon Scott led off the top half of the fourth with a homer to left, scoring the Pirates only run.

Aside from Munoz though, the Tigers bats slept in on Saturday. Three Tigers besides Munoz reached base on balls, but Anthony Salsedo was the only other Tiger to get a hit in the game — a single to left in the first inning.

Munoz finished the game 2 for 3 with the homer.

When Oxy did get on, they were a handful on the bases. Logan Allen (Atascadero) swiped two bags and Anthony Salsedo and Scott Hong (Los Angeles) each took one.

Game 2: Whitworth 10, Occidental 7

BOX SCORE

LOS ANGELES — Scoring first in the Occidental College and Whitworth University baseball series this weekend, has been a bad omen.

In Game 1 on Friday, Occidental scored first and led for most of the day only to lose it and the game in the seventh inning. In Game 2, Whitworth scored first in the fourth, then Oxy answered back in the bottom half of the same inning, finishing with a 2-1 victory.

It only made sense then, after Oxy's Scott Hong stole second and worked his way around for the game's first run in the second inning of Game 3, that Whitworth would come back over the top with runs of their own.

Whitworth jumped on the Tigers in the third and added insurance late, beating the Tigers 10-6 in the series finale at Anderson Field on Saturday.

Landon Scott doubled in two runs, then Tyler Pfeffer and JR Jarrell each singled in another for a four-run top of the third for Whitworth (2-1).

Every time the Tigers (3-2) got close, the Pirates distanced themselves soon after.

In the fourth, Kevin Ozaki's (Los Angeles) sacrifice fly brought in Brent Wunner (Temple City) and Logan Allen (Atascadero) singled in Victor Munoz (La Verne) cutting the Pirates lead to one.

But Whitworth extended a seven-run lead with a six runs combined in the fifth and sixth innings.

The Tigers chipped away at the lead late. Jonathan Wong (Grizzly Flats) singled in Munoz and Pedro Aldape (Sherman Oaks) brought home Dan Kelley on a sacrifice fly in the seventh, then Kelley singled in Wunner in the eighth, but it wasn't enough.

Allen finished the day 2 for 4 with a double and an RBI for Oxy. Scott was 3 for 5 with a triple, a double and three RBIs for the Pirates.

For it being the first three-game series of the weekend, Oxy experienced quite a few emotions that come with close wins and tough losses.

"There are games you get beat, there are games you win and there are games you lose. We managed to do all three this weekend," Occidental coach Luke Wetmore said. "However, I am very pleased with our effort for the 27 innings we played this weekend and we showed a lot of character in our ability to come back and play quality baseball after a demoralizing loss to open the series."

The Tigers open a three-game series with Austin College at Anderson Field next weekend, starting on Feb. 11 at 10 a.m.