Poets headed to SCIAC Tournament with sweep of CMS

WHITTIER, Calif. - The Whittier College softball team came back from a 2-0 deficit in the fifth inning of the second game in its doubleheader with Claremont-Mudd-Scripps to complete the sweep of the Athenas and send the Poets to the 2009 Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament.

Whittier (24-16, 11-13 SCIAC) used its final at bat in both games to earn the wins. Mary Pacheco went a combined 4-for-8 with seven runs batted in which includes a two-out, two-RBI single in the bottom of the sixth inning of the second game to put WC up 3-2.

Vicky Ovieda provided her own dramatics in the first game as she broke a 5-5 tie in the sixth inning with a leadoff homerun to help secure the win for Whittier.

The Poets got on the board early in the first game as they plated their first run in the first inning. Claremont-M-S (26-12, 15-9 SCIAC) answered with a pair of runs in the second inning but Pacheco hit a grand slam in the bottom half of the inning to put the purple and gold ahead once again.

CMS added three runs over the next two innings to tie the score at five but Ovidea's homerun and Amanda Webster's scoreless seventh inning helped the Poets to the 6-5 win.

Nikole Gandara threw six innings in the first game and earned her eighth win of the year. She allowed five runs (three earned) on 12 hits with one strike out. Webster relieved Gandara in the seventh inning and picked up her second save of the year.

The Poets got down early in the second game as Claremont plated one run in the first and third inning to take a 2-0 lead. The Poets first got on the board fifth inning as Pacheco led off the inning with her second homerun of the afternoon to make the score 2-1.

Whittier completed the comeback in the next inning with Pacheco's game winning two-RBI single.

Webster started the second game and allowed two runs (one earned) in 4.1 innings of work. Heather Dady earned the win in 2.2 innings of work. She allowed one hit and stuck out one batter.

The Poets will face top-seeded Redlands in the first round of the SCIAC Tournament.