Jack Bickerton,
Teague Conder, and
Ben Parker combined to hit five homeruns,
Mateus Conaway threw five shutout innings, and the Whitman baseball team opened their four-game road trip in Whittier, California with an 18-4 rout of the Poets on Friday afternoon.
Whittier (0-5) starter Aaron Cazarez sat down the first five Blues he saw in order before
Jack Bickerton got the game rolling offensively for Whitman (3-0) in the top of the second after he lifted the ball over the left field wall for the first run of the game.
Joaquin Hines and
Brock Williams then followed with back to back singles to put runners on the corners with two outs. A.J. Romero took a 2-1 pitch down in the dirt allowing Williams to move to second, and the Poets proceeded to walk Romero. That brought
Nate Korahais to the plate, who, after falling behind 1-2, took a low pitch in the zone and drove it out to the left center field wall, clearing the bases and staking the Blues to a 4-0 lead.
Ben Parker followed and smashed a 2-run home run to center field, capping the Whitman six run inning, all with two outs.
The six-run inning would be more than enough for
Mateus Conaway (1-0) making his first start of the year. Conaway would keep the Poets off the board for the first five innings, needing only 58 pitches in the process. Conaway sat down the first eight men in the order before surrendering his first hit of the game with two outs in the bottom of the third. Mateus would end up surrendering only one other hit on the day, surrendered no walks and struck out six Poets.
The Blues offensive attack would rumble on throughout the game, as Whitman compiled a total of 20 hits, nine for extra bases, as they tacked on three runs in the third, three in the fourth, six runs in the fifth, and two more in the top of the ninth, highlighted by Bickerton's second home run of the day.
Bickerton finished the game 5-5 with a triple, 2 homers, and seven RBI.
Beck Maguire, Romero, Korahais, Parker, Hines, and Williams all had at least two hits for the Blues, and Conder,
Michael Doyle, and
Garrett Runyan each added a hit of their own for Whitman, who is 3-0 for the first time in more than 15 years.
The Blues will continue their four-game swing into California tomorrow with a double header vs. Occidental first pitch scheduled at 11 a.m.
