WHITTIER, Calif. – The nationally ranked No. 25 Ithaca College softball team suffered a pair of losses to Whittier College, 9-1 and 6-4, to open its 2017 season in California on Sunday afternoon at Palmer Field. Whittier improves its record to 9-7 on the season with the wins over Ithaca.
Game One: Whittier 9, Ithaca 1 (6 innings)
Ithaca got on the board quickly, as sophomore
Alex Wright drove in junior
Allie Colleran with a single down the leftfield line in the top of the first inning. Colleran found her way on base via an error and then advanced on a groundout and wild pitch.
Whittier took a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the third on an RBI single and a three-run home run. With one out, the next Poet singled, stole second and scored on the ensuing base hit. A hit by pitch followed to set up the three-run shot.
The Bombers' deficit grew to 6-1 in the bottom of the fifth as a pair of wild pitches allowed two runs to score. Whittier loaded the bases with two outs, but junior
Payton Cutting entered the circle and got Ithaca out of the jam with a groundout.
Ithaca threatened to get back in the game in the top of the sixth by loading the bases on a pair of errors and a hit by pitch, but the next two runners were retired to keep the score at 6-1 in favor of Whittier.
Whittier put the game away in the bottom of the sixth with three runs on a run-scoring fielder's choice and back-to-back singles to put the eight-run rule into effect, 9-1.
Despite six errors committed by the Poets' defense, the Ithaca offense was unable to capitalize and managed just three hits from Wright, senior
Jessie Fleck and freshman
Abby Shields.
Sophomore Hailey Congdon suffered the loss in the circle, tossing 4.1 innings with six earned runs on five hits, three walks and four strikeouts.
Game Two: Whittier 6, Ithaca 4
The Bombers once again jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning, as sophomore
Abby Shields drove in classmate
Vanessa Brown, who was on third, with a single up the middle.
Whittier answered back in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI groundout after a runner reached base on a hit by pitch and stole their way up to third.
Ithaca knotted the nightcap up at 2-2 in the fourth on a solo homer from Holden, but Whittier responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning on a sacrifice fly and illegal pitch.
In the fifth, Shields sent a fly ball to right, which was deep enough to allow Brown to scamper home for the game-tying run.
The Poets scored twice in the bottom of the sixth for the eventual final tally. Their first run came on a double steal with runners on the corners and then an error allowed the final run of the game to cross the plate.
Seven different Bombers recorded a hit in Game Two, while Shields had two RBI and Brown scored twice.
Holden took the loss in a complete game effort. She fanned two batters over six innings and gave up six runs (three earned) on four hits.
Ithaca will look to get back on track tomorrow in another doubleheader at the University of the Redlands at 1 p.m. PDT.
