LOS ANGELES — Down by one, with two outs and the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth inning, senior Ashley Noone (Orange) stepped up to the plate for her final at bat at Bell Field.

She drilled a fastball through the right side of the infield, sending all three base runners in motion for a wild and crazy play that gave the Occidental College softball team a 7-5 win over Whittier in their home season finale and Game 2 of a doubleheader with the Poets on Friday.

Meghan Luera (Pasadena) scored the tying run from third base easily. As Noone hustled down the line, Whittier right fielder Mickala Gonzales made a wild throw to first, trying to throw out Noone, that went all the way to the backstop and allowed Jerika Barron (Half Moon Bay), who was on second, to score the go-ahead run. Then as Whittier catcher Samantha Mellano recovered the loose ball, she tried to catch Jacqueline Shimamoto (Santa Clarita) advancing to third, but also missed her target, sending the ball into left field and Shimamoto home for the third run of the play. Noone was tagged out trying to advance to third after the melee.

"I feel like Ashley was close all day today. She hit the ball hard in every at bat and it was just a matter of time before she found a hole," Oxy coach Ali Haehnel said. "Our game plan was to be aggressive, they threw the ball around a little bit and we got three runs out of it."

In the bottom of the seventh, senior Brittany Vacura (Elk Grove) pitched her way out of a first-and-second jam with no outs, earning her seventh win of the season in two scoreless innings pitched.

Senior Patricia Phillimeano (Roseville) bagged the final out, making a snow-cone catch leaning over Oxy's dugout on the first base line. The pitch before, Julia Nicholson (Upland) nearly made a more impressive play for the final out when she had the ball bounce just in and out of her glove as she dove towards the Tigers' bullpen in foul territory in right field.

Oxy, which has struggled to find a win of late, earned a quality victory over a team that was vying for the fourth-and-final SCIAC Postseason Tournament spot.

"It was a great way to cap off our home games this season. Every senior contributed, Brittany pitched well in the circle, Nicholson almost came up with a diving catch, Kathleen McLain (Washington, D.C.) pinch ran in two high-pressure situations, (Noone) did a great job behind the plate and (Phillimeano) closed out the game with a really amazing catch. … So I'm pleased we can end their home careers with a win and we have a lot of momentum going into tomorrow's series."

Barron made maybe Oxy's defensive play of the year to end the sixth. With one out and runners on first and second, the junior shortstop took three hard strides to her right, leaped into the air and back-handed a soft line drive off the bat of Mellano. After securing the out, she took three more strides back to second base, finishing with a diving effort, to double-up Alex Flores by inches.

Oxy never trailed in Game 2 until Whittier scored four runs in the fifth, taking a 5-3 lead. Ali Goldberg (Los Altos), who started the game and went 3 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored, singled to center, bringing home Kristine Kocjan (Redwood City) to cut the lead to one in the fifth.

Shimamoto went 2 for 3, Noone was 2 for 4 and Luera finished 2 for 2 with a run scored.

Game 1 didn't have the storybook ending. The Poets controlled the game from the start, beating Oxy 6-1. Goldberg, Barron and Phillimeano all had two hits.

Vacura pitched all seven innings, giving up six earned runs with four strike outs.

Courtney Delano earned the victory for Whittier, improving to 12-5 on the season.

Mercedes Cundiff led the Poets offense, going 2 for 4 with three RBIs and double.

Oxy plays its final doubleheader of the year Saturday at Pomona-Pitzer. Game 1 starts at noon.