Claremont, Calif. (April 23, 2012) – This week saw the top-ranked Women’s Water Polo team, led by its standout Pitzer students, finish the regular season unbeaten while the Softball team, led by its Pitzer seniors, set a school record for wins in a season.
Women’s Water Polo capped off an impressive undefeated regular season in the SCIAC (and against Division III opponents) with a dramatic 11-10 triple-overtime win at Whittier in its finale on Saturday (after defeating CMS 8-5 in its home finale on Wednesday), to maintain its No. 1 ranking in Division III. Perri Hopkins ’12 had the game-winning goal on a 6-on-5 in the third overtime to enable the Sagehens to finish the regular season 7-0 in conference (with four wins in overtime) and 12-0 against Division III teams. Anna Oxborough-Yankus ’12 and Alyssa Woodward ’15 each added three goals as well.
Earlier in the week, Hopkins and Oxborough-Yankus were honored on their Senior Day prior to a match against CMS. After the Sagehens saw a 4-1 lead trimmed to 4-3 before the half, the two seniors stepped up with goals 30 seconds apart to start the second half to build the lead back up to 6-3, and the team never looked back as it went on to an 8-5 win. The two seniors also had key defensive plays with steals in the fourth quarter, while Woodward stole an outlet pass to set up the final goal of the game to seal the win. The Sagehens will be in action this weekend at the SCIAC Championships at Whittier, serving as the top seed in the event.
The Softball team, meanwhile, established a new program record for wins in a season with 22, breaking the mark of 21 set in 2008. They tied the mark in impressive fashion, sweeping No. 22 CMS in its home finale on Friday with a 5-0 win in the opener and a 2-1 win in the nightcap. Brianna Marcantoni ’12 got the offense started with a two-run single in the first inning of the opening game, and Arianna Roach ’12 helped set up the winning run in the nightcap with a clutch single to load the bases. Marcantoni also added three RBI in the first game of a doubleheader at Cal Lutheran on Saturday, while Roach had two RBI in the nightcap, which set the school record for wins in a season.
Baseball stayed alive in its quest for the SCIAC title with a terrific week on the diamond, defeating Occidental 6-3 on the road, knocking off first-place La Verne 8-2 and then capping off the week with a 16-1 victory over Caltech. Stuart Gano ’13 earned the pitching victory in the Caltech game, while Erik Munzer ’13 was 3-for-4 with three runs scored after also going 3-for-4 in the win over Occidental. Coleman Lukas ’14 was 2-for-3 with an RBI against Oxy, while E.J. Lopez ’15 was 2-for-4 with an RBI. Baseball trails La Verne by two games with two to play and is still alive for a share of the SCIAC title heading into the final weekend, beginning with a home game against Redlands on Friday.
Men’s and Women’s Tennis picked up identical 6-3 wins over Redlands on Sunday to cap off the SCIAC regular season. Women’s Tennis (ranked No. 15 in the country) earned the second seed in the SCIAC Tournament with a 6-1 conference record. Jamie Solomon PI ’13 picked up a big win at No. 1 singles, rallying back for a 7-6 tiebreaker win in the first set before taking the second set 6-0, while Emily Kawahara ’12 teamed up with fellow senior Nicole Holsted PO ’12 for a doubles win on their Senior Day. Men’s Tennis (ranked No. 12 nationally) took a 2-1 lead after doubles at Redlands, but needed to pull out four three-set wins in singles to escape with the 6-3 victory. Max Sabel ’13 and Frankie Allinson PO ’13 won an 8-4 decision at No. 1 doubles and then both took three-set wins in singles. Both tennis teams will compete in the Ojai Tournament this weekend before heading to the SCIAC Championships on May 4-5.
Women’s Lacrosse will also begin SCIAC Championship play this week as it travels to Whittier on Wednesday. The two teams split during the regular season, with the Sagehens winning in February 26-18. Pitzer-Pomona fell in its regular season finale on Saturday 18-11 at Occidental, as Jana London ‘14 led the way on offense with four goals and one assist.
