by Kelsey Segren, Sports Information Assistant
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Whitworth took the first game over host Occidental thanks in part to solid pitching before the Tigers put up a six-run eighth inning in game two to take the series finale in Saturday's baseball doubleheader.
Whitworth (7-2) took Saturday's opener 4-1 and the Tigers (5-4) avoided the sweep with a 11-2 win in the series finale. Ben Wintringer led the Pirates, going 6-9 on the day with two RBIs and a home run.
Game 1 – Whitworth 4, Occidental 1
Wintringer finished 4-5 with an RBI and Cody Simmons went 3-5 with an RBI and run scored to lead Whitworth at the plate in game one.
Whitworth took the early 1-0 lead in the top of the second thanks to an RBI single from Simmons. Grayson O'Neil singled to right center and advanced to second on a passed ball to get into scoring position before Simmons drove him in with his infield single.
The Pirates added two more in the fourth inning to go up 3-0. Wintringer's bases-loaded infield single brought home Jarred Yara. With the bases still loaded, Dawson Warner reached on a fielder's choice to score Simmons.
The Tigers got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single from Nolan Upchurch.
A single to right from Liam Fitzpatrick extended Whitworth's lead to 4-1 in the eighth.
Matthew Young (2-0) allowed one run on four hits and struck out six over 5.1 innings on the mound for the Pirates. Brett Thomas finished up the final 3.2 innings, not allowing a run on three hits and struck out five.
Game 2 – Occidental 11, Whitworth 2
The first five runs of the game were all scored on solo homers. Occidental led 2-0 after back-to-back two-out solo home runs from Antonio Andrade and Michael Ingram. Wintringer responded with his first career home run in the top of the fourth for the Pirates before Jake Fredrickson and Andrade added another pair of homers for the Tigers in the bottom of the fifth.
Caleb Morton drove in Luke Bruno with two-outs in the sixth to cut Occidental's lead to 4-2. The Tigers responded with one run in the bottom half when Gus Patrick stole home.
Occidental blew the game open in the eighth, batting through the order and scoring six runs on four hits to bring the score to 11-2.
Tyson Yamane (1-1) took the loss, allowing four runs on six hits in 5.1 innings. Max Sterner (1-0) allowed two runs on five hits in eight innings of work for the Tigers.
Coming Up: The Pirates close the California trip with one game at Redlands tomorrow at 11 a.m.
