LOS ANGELES - After Whitworth University's baseball season opener was rained out the Pirates might've hoped that the second scheduled game of the day was also washed away as host Occidental College earned a 12-2 win in the season opener for both teams on Saturday afternoon. What was supposed to be a doubleheader that began at 11:00 turned into a single game starting at 2:30 p.m. The Tigers jumped to a quick 4-0 lead after two innings and never looked back. Trailing 6-0 in the top of the sixth, the Pirates got on the board when Dan Belet doubled home JR Jarrell. The Bucs added a run in the seventh on Landon Scott's RBI single. Two freshmen came up big for Occidental. Leadoff hitter Logan Allen went 2-3 while scoring three runs and driving in three runs. Fellow first year Cory Popham started the game on the mound and went 6.1 innings while giving up one run on five hits to earn his first career win. Stephen Hilliard added a three-run home run for Oxy in the bottom of the eighth to round out the scoring. Nathan Johnson started on the mound for the Bucs and went four innings while allowing six runs (five earned) on five hits to get the loss. Jarrell was the only Pirate with more than one hit on Saturday, finishing 2-4 with a run scored. The teams will try to make up the missed game on Sunday with a doubleheader that will get underway at 11:00 a.m. |
