Sagehen Round Up for the Week of March 19, 2012

Claremont, Calif. ( March 26, 2012)– This week in Sagehen athletics saw Pitzer athletes have major contributions in dramatic wins for the Baseball and Softball teams, while keeping the Women’s Water Polo team near the top of the NCAA Division III rankings.

The Baseball team had a 3-1 week, which included a big 4-2 win over Kean University, which came to Alumni Field ranked second in the nation on Monday. Kean also threw its ace, junior Kevin Herget, who was 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA, against Stuart Gano ’13, who was making his first start of the year, but Gano matched him zero for zero through the first five innings. The Sagehens eventually prevailed 4-2, as Gano earned the win after allowing one run through six innings, while Erik Munzer ’13 hit a two-out, two-run single in the seventh that proved to be the difference.

Gano then followed up that performance with a dominant effort in the rubber game of a three-game series against Chapman, throwing a complete-game five-hitter in a 5-1 win on Saturday, striking out seven and walking one. The Sagehens swept the Saturday doubleheader after dropping Friday’s game at home, picking up their first win on Saturday 3-2 in 10 innings after trailing 2-0 going into the ninth. Munzer and pinch runner Travis Rooke-Ley ’12 scored the two runs in the ninth, while E.J. Lopez ’15 doubled to lead off the tenth and came around to score the go-ahead run.

Dramatic wins for the Softball team have become commonplace as of late, and they pulled off yet another walk-off win the second game of a doubleheader sweep of Cal Lutheran on Saturday. The winning run was manufactured entirely by Pitzer athletes, as Ashley Morello ’15 led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Ari Roach ’12, and came home on a drive to the wall from Bri Marcantoni ’12. The Sagehens also took an 8-0 win in the first game, behind three RBI from Emily Buika ’12, who also made a clutch defensive play in the second game as she caught a shallow liner and threw out a runner tagging at the plate for a double play.

Chris Wiechert ’14 kept his impressive win streak going for the Men’s Tennis team by earning a three-set win against No. 1 Amherst on Friday. Wiechert has now won 11 matches in a row, 10 of which have come against nationally ranked opponents, dating back to a loss to No. 6 Kenyon on Feb. 24 at the ITA Indoor Nationals in Minnesota. Max Sabel ’13 also won his match in three sets, but top-ranked Amherst came away with a 7-2 win. The Sagehens host Middlebury this week on Thursday at 4 p.m., followed by Whittier on Friday at 2 p.m. and UC Santa Cruz on Saturday at 10 a.m. The Women’s Tennis team, which was 2-1 this week with wins over Kalamazoo and Puget Sound, will host Middlebury on Wednesday.

Women’s Water Polo was also 2-1 this week with wins over Connecticut College and Chapman, and a loss to Long Beach State. The Sagehens are ranked No. 2 in Division III and have yet to lose to a Division III opponent this season, and face yet another Division I school (Brown) on Wednesday at 4 p.m. Pitzer athletes combined for 12 of the team’s 18 goals in its 18-8 win over Connecticut College, with Kerstin Henshall ’14 leading with four, Alyssa Woodward ’15 and Annie Oxborough-Yankus ’12 each adding three, and Perri Hopkins ’12 and Carter Grant ’15 chipping in with one apiece. Oxborough-Yankus (3) and Hopkins (2) also had multiple goals in a 10-5 win over Chapman.
Alex Oxborough-Yankus ’14, Annie’s younger sister, also had a good performance for the Pomona-Pitzer Track and Field team, as she recorded the eighth best javelin throw in program history at the SCIAC Quad meet held at Cal Lutheran. Matt Owen ’14 came in first place in the pole vault on the men’s side, earning the first win of his collegiate career.

Leave a Reply

About Pitzer College

Pitzer College is a nationally top-ranked undergraduate liberal arts and sciences institution. A member of The Claremont Colleges, Pitzer offers a distinctive approach to a liberal arts education by linking intellectual inquiry with interdisciplinary studies, cultural immersion, social responsibility, and community involvement. For more information, please visit www.pitzer.edu.

About Sagehen Athletics

Pitzer College joins with Pomona College to field 21 varsity teams – The Sagehens – that compete in Division III NCAA athletics and as members of the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SCIAC). There are 10 men’s and 11 women’s teams: baseball (men), basketball, cross country, football (men), golf, lacrosse (women), soccer, softball (women), swimming and diving, tennis, track and field, volleyball (women) and water polo.

Media Contact

Office of Communications
[email protected]