Sagehen softball starts season with doubleheader sweep of Puget Sound
The Pomona-Pitzer softball team (2-0) opened its season with a doubleheader against Puget Sound University (0-2) last Friday, winning a competitive first game 5-3 before blowing out the Loggers 13-1 in the second.
Liz Rodarte PO ’19, the reigning SCIAC Player of the Year, pitched all seven innings of the first game for the Sagehens, tallying eight strikeouts and giving up only three runs. With the game tied at three in the bottom of the sixth, Izzy Deatherage PO ’20 hit a double with the bases loaded to give the Sagehens the win.
The second game was almost over before it began, as the Sagehens jumped out to a 10-0 lead and never looked back. Both Megan Otsuka PZ ’22 and Julia Carreon PZ ’22 recorded their first career home runs, with Otsuka’s coming on her first ever at-bat for the Sagehens.
P-P baseball downs Puget Sound 14-4 on opening day
The 2019 baseball season got off to a quick start for the Sagehens (1-0), as they took down Puget Sound (0-1) 14-4. Tyler Yoshihara PO ’20 and Ethan Baer PZ ’20 both put in four innings on the mound before Luka Green PO ’20 entered in the ninth to close the game.
The Sagehens immediately jumped in front, putting up four runs in the bottom of the first to seize control. The offense was consistent throughout, scoring in five of their eight innings up to bat. Jeremy Jess PZ ’20 led the way for P-P, going 3-4 with four RBIs, three runs and a home run. Jeremiah Quezada PZ ’20 also contributed to the scoring, going 2-5 with four RBIs.
Pool records fall at Pomona-Pitzer Invitational for Sagehen swim and dive
The P-P swim and dive teams clashed with CMS in the Pomona-Pitzer Invitational last Saturday, an unscored meet. The event was largely an opportunity for athletes from both teams to improve their times for SCIAC Championships seeding.
Lukas Menkhoff PO ’21, the reigning national champion in the 100-yard breaststroke, set a Haldeman Pool record in the 50-yard butterfly, a distance not typically swum at the collegiate level, with a time of 22.36. Menkhoff also set a pool and program record in the 100-yard individual medley, also a non-traditional event, with a time of 51.17.
Sarah Jin PO ’19, Maddie Kauahi PZ ’19 and Kate Denend PO ’21 all took home individual victories on the women’s side for the Sagehens, who also won the mixed-gender 200-yard medley and freestyle relays.
P-P track teams fall to Occidental in season-opener
The P-P men’s and women’s track and field teams opened up the season in a dual meet with Occidental last weekend. Both teams came up short, with the men losing 69-57 and the women losing 80-51.
Both P-P teams performed well in the sprints. The men’s team finished in spots two through seven in the 100-meter dash, and Dylan Madden PZ ’21 took first place in the 400-meter dash with a time of 51.56, narrowly edging out second place by .08 seconds. On the women’s side, Quin Fraley PO ’22 won both the 100-meter dash and the 100-meter hurdles, while LuLu Pinczower PZ ’22 finished first in the 400-meter dash.
All five Sagehen runners in the women’s 3,000-meter dash crossed the line together 11 seconds faster than the first finisher from Occidental. Lila Cardillo PO ’22 crossed first with a time of 11:00.19, a new meet record, and Sophia West PO ’22 finished fifth with a time of 11:00.25. Later, Cardillo teamed up with Helen Guo PO ’20, Lauren Hamilton PO ’20 and Genevieve DiBari PO ’22 to set the Sagehen women’s record and meet record in the 4×1600 relay with a time of 21:58.47.
Sagehen men’s tennis opens year with two wins over SCIAC opponents
Ranked No. 11 in the nation, the Sagehen men’s tennis team (2-0) got off to a strong start last Saturday, beating conference opponents Cal Lutheran (1-1) 6-3, and Whittier (0-1) 8-1.
Jed Kronenberg PO ’21 paced the Sagehens, winning all three matches over the weekend. After picking up the win at No. 2 doubles over Cal Lutheran, he took No. 1 singles 6-1, 6-1. The sophomore capped off the week by downing Whittier in No. 1 singles as well. Kronenberg, who won last year’s SCIAC Newcomer of the Year, earned a SCIAC Athlete of the Week honor for his performance.
Sagehen women’s water polo goes 1-3 against tough competition at Triton Invitational
The Sagehen women’s water polo team (1-5), winners of the past two SCIAC Championships, struggled against the top competition in the nation last weekend at the Triton Invitational in San Diego.
On Saturday, P-P lost to No. 1 University of Southern California (12-0) 15-4 and No. 16 Long Beach State (2-6) 17-8. On Sunday, the team split a pair of overtime thrillers, first falling to San Diego State (3-4) 6-5 before beating Santa Clara (2-6) 8-6 for their first win of the year.
P-P found itself trailing by a goal with under a minute to go in each of their Sunday games, but Kyla Pickell PZ ’19 came up big both times. Scoring with just one second remaining against SDSU and 54 remaining against Santa Clara University, Pickell gave the Sagehens a second chance at a win in each game. After losing their first overtime on a power play in sudden death, the Sagehens shut out Santa Clara in overtime for their only win of the weekend.
P-P women’s tennis sweeps Occidental 9-0 in season opener
The Sagehen women’s tennis team (1-0), ranked No. 7 in the nation, dominated Occidental College (0-1) in its season opener Feb. 7, winning 9-0. No player gave up more than two set points in a match.
Arianna Chen PO ’19 and Lucy Jiang PO ’19 swept Oxy 8-0 in No. 1 doubles, Caroline Casper PO ’19 and Yurie Heard PO ’20 won the No. 2 match 8-2, and Rebecca Salaway PO ’20 and Jacinta Chen PO ’21 won the No. 3 match 8-1.
The Sagehens also swept the individual matches, which included Melisha Dogra PZ ’22 and Maria Lyven PO ’22 each winning their first career SCIAC match. After having their match with Westmont College Feb. 9 postponed due to rain, the Sagehens will next face Caltech (0-1) and Cal State Los Angeles (1-1) Feb. 16.
Sagehen women’s basketball wins on Senior Day
The P-P women’s basketball team picked up two big conference wins last week to extend their winning streak to five, taking down Cal Lutheran (9-15) 62-56 on Saturday and Whittier (10-13) 76-67 on Wednesday.
The game against Cal Lu was Senior Day for the Sagehens, who honored Keilani Ikehara PZ ’19, Anita Romero PZ ’19, Zoe Hunt PZ ’19 and Naomi Baer PO ’19. While it was the seniors’ night, P-P was led by its youth. Amara Chidom PZ ’22 scored 16 points and 10 rebounds and Carly Leong PZ ’22 chipped in 15 points. Both players came off the bench for the Sagehens.
The Sagehens were in control against Whittier, getting out to an early lead. Renae Tamura PO ’21 had a big impact with 10 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Cameron Edward PO ’22 paced the team with 14 points on a blistering 4-of-5 shooting from beyond the arc.
Historic season continues: P-P men’s basketball sets program record with 22 wins, extends win-streak to 18
The P-P men’s basketball team (22-1) continued its tear through the SCIAC, downing Cal Lutheran (7-16) 78-61 on Saturday and Whittier (9-15) 94-71 on Wednesday. With the wins, the Sagehens stretched their win streak to 18 games, and moved to a perfect 14-0 in the SCIAC.
On Saturday, the Sagehens took a 35-20 lead into halftime and remained in front the rest of the way. Adam Rees PO ’20 was one of four players to reach double figures, and led the balanced scoring attack with 15 points and nine rebounds. The Sagehens dominated the Kingsmen in the paint, winning the rebounding battle 47-25.
Daniel Rosenbaum PO ’19 and Micah Elan PZ ’20 shouldered the load for the Sagehens against Whittier, as Rosenbaum had 24 points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Elan had 21 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. The Sagehens again had an advantage on the glass, out-rebounding Whittier 48-28. The win was the 22nd of the season for the Sagehens, setting a new program record.