Poets Open Season With Three Against #4 Chapman

Whittier College baseball got its season underway with a three-game series against nationally ranked #4 Chapman University on February 1 and 2.  The teams flexed their offensive muscles, scoring 55 runs and hammering nine home runs in the three games.  Chapman showed why they are the three-time defending NCAA Division III West Region Champions, sweeping the series 10-7, 17-11 and 8-2.

Chapman took control of the series immediately, taking a ten-run lead in five innings of game one in Orange, Calif.  Eight Panthers recorded base hits in the game led by Kyle Redding who went 2-for-3 with a double, three RBI and two runs scored.  Ryan Prechtl and Stuart Hyman had two RBI apiece.  After Chapman's ace left the game with an injury in the second inning, Matt Luzar came into the game and allowed just one hit in 5.1 innings

Despite the Chapman lead, the Poets fought to get back in the game with seven runs in the eighth and ninth innings.  Robbie Smith '08 and Ryan Crawford '11 led the charge, each driving in a pair of runs with singles.  Brian Carmona '09 did his part with a solo blast in the eighth inning.  Anthony Cappelletti '09 had a pair of hits and an RBI and John Fugazi '09 also reached base twice, scoring runs on both occasions. 

Thomas Phelps '09 (0-1) started on the hill for the Poets and gave up seven earned runs on eight hits in 4.1 innings.  He struck out four batters.  Kevin "Fungo" Pigott '09 pitched 2.2 innings and didn't give up an earned run on four hits.  Two Panthers did cross the plate while he was on the mound as the Whittier defense struggled, committing six errors in the game.  Anthony Tsui '11 pitched a hitless eighth inning.

The teams came to Whittier for the day two doubleheader, and found themselves in a shootout in the first game.  Chapman got things started with five runs in the first inning.  Mike Vass hit a two-run bomb for the first runs of the game.  Later in the inning, a pair of RBI singles and a Poet error capped the five-run inning.  The Poets cut into the deficit in the bottom half with a two-run homer from Smith.  He finished with six RBI in the series.  The Panthers kept the pressure on with five more runs in the second.  Kurt Yacko hit a solo home run to start the inning. 

The score remained 10-2 until the fourth, when Chapman tacked on another run after another Whittier error and an RBI single from Redding.  Then the Poets made a run.  A Brian Carmona '10 sacrifice fly in the bottom of the fourth made the score 11-3.  In the bottom of the sixth, five hits, including RBI singles for Cappelletti, Ken Baptista '09 and Lorenzo Lopez '09, and an error led to four runs and the game appeared to be in reach for the Poets. 

Chapman closed that door immediately, as a Patrick Ohail two-run homer highlighted a five-run seventh, and the lead grew to 16-7.  Mike Benavente '09 and Cappelletti hit RBI singles as the Poets scored three times in the bottom of the seventh, but it wasn't enough.  The teams each added a run in the eighth and Chapman took game two of the series, 17-11.

In the series finale, the Poets' offense was not as strong, with their only runs coming off the bat of Smith, who hit his second home run of the series, this time a two-run shot in the bottom of the sixth.  At the time, it made the score 4-2 but Chapman put the game out of reach with back-to-back-to-back jacks that highlighted a four-run seventh.

Smith led the Poets in the series, going 5-for-9 at the plate with two home runs, six RBI and four runs scored.  Pigott was strong on the mound, not allowing an earned run in 5.2 innings in two appearances.

The Poets face-off against the Whittier alumni on February 9 before returning to regular season play against Azusa Pacific on February 11.