CLAREMONT, Calif.  Whitman jumped on host Pomona-Pitzer Colleges in the first few innings of the back-end of a twinbill played at the Sagehens' Alumni Field, then kept adding 'insurance' runs until it finished with an 8-2 win. The victory, the first of the season, gave the Blues a split in the non-conference set as Pomona-Pitzer took the opener, 12-3.

The early runs in Game 2 were all that were needed, actually, as Whitman starter Jimmy Smiley had a strong outing, going 6.0 innings and allowing just two runs on seven hits and a walk, while fanning five to earn the win.

The Blues (1-2), limited to just five hits in the day's opener, had no trouble heating up in Game 2.

With one out in the top of the first, Joseph Zimmer jogged to first base after getting clipped by a pitch from Pomona starter, Brett Super. A double to right-center field by Lucas Thrun moved Zimmer to third, from where he was able to race home for the initial run on an RBI-single up the middle from Kyle Reisman.

The Blues caught a break in the second when John Lyon reached on an error, and eventually game around to score on a double lashed down the left-field line by Jerick Nomura.

The lead increased to 3-0 in the third the old-fashioned way -- a big knock over the left-field fence by Zimmer -- then elevated to a four-run margin later in the inning. A pair of walks to Thrun and Reisman and a sacrifice bunt by Jake

Wishart put runners at second and third. Thrun crossed the plate easily on a wild pitch by reliever Ryan Long, who came on for Super after the initial walk.

From there it was Smiley, then Collin Anderson, then Brendan Henry on the bump for the Blues, and additional runs in the fifth, seventh -- on a Thrun bomb over the right field wall -- and ninth.

Anderson pitched the seventh and Henry finished the job, the pair allowing but one hit, no walks, and struck out one each to quiet the Sagehens bats that had so loudly rang out in the opener.

Whitman drew first blood in the early game as Zimmer doubled off the left-field wall, moved to third on a long fly-out to center by Thrun, then took home on a throwing error by the Pomona shortstop.

The home team evened the score in the bottom of the second, and then took a one-run lead in the bottom of the third. But a one-out walk to Thrun turned into the equalizing run in the top of the fourth, after he raced all the way around the base paths on a Reisman double that dropped inside the foul line in left field.

A five-run fifth by Pomona turned the tide, though, and the Sagehens would add five more runs after that to pad their cushion.

The harshest reality of that opener was that starter Charlie Carmichael surrendered only two earned runs of the seven he allowed over 4 2/3s innings of work, and reliever Tristan Perrin's lone run that he gave up was also unearned.

Pomona (2-1) made the most out of four Whitman errors to log half of its run total in the unearned column.

For the day Thrun was 4-for-7 with a double and home run, he walked twice, scored four runs and collected one RBI. Reisman, Limn and Zimmer each had a total of three hits, with Zimmer's total including a double and a pair of home runs.

Reisman and Zimmer also added two RBIs apiece.

The Blues close out their Southern California weekend on Sunday with a single game at Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges.