Claremont, Calif. - The Pomona-Pitzer Softball team rallied for three runs in the seventh inning to tie the score, and won on an extra-inning RBI single from Natalie Ireland, to take the opening game of a doubleheader from SCIAC leading Whittier 8-7, and then added a 4-1 win in the nightcap on Saturday. 

Sophomore pitcher Bianca Cockrell was four outs from a no-hitter in the nightcap before settling for a complete-game two-hitter. With the sweep, the Sagehens are now 12-14 overall and 7-7 in the SCIAC, while Whittier falls to 15-9 overall and 9-3 in the conference.

Senior left fielder Ashley Morello and junior right fielder Susanne Boden were both 4-for-5 in the opening game. Boden led off the bottom of the seventh with a double, and a walk to senior center fielder Leah Bleichner brought the tying run to the plate. With two outs, Morello came up with runners on second and third and forced a wild throw to first, resulting in two runs and cutting the deficit to 7-6.

Sophomore Sofia Baig got a key pinch-hit single to keep the inning going, and freshman pitcher Emily Rockhill knotted it up with an RBI single to make the score 7-7. Rockhill then retired the side in order in the top of the eighth, and Boden led off the bottom half with a single. After Bleichner bunted her over to second, Ireland lined a single into right center than easily scored Boden from second with the winning run.

(pictured: the Sagehens celebrate the opening game win by mobbing Ireland near first base)

The nightcap was all about the pitching of Cockrell, who made it all the way until there were two outs in the bottom of the sixth before allowing her first hit to Samantha Mellano. Bleichner then started the seventh off with a diving catch in shallow center, before Whittier was able to break up the shutout with an RBI double from Samantha Blum, but pinch hitter Kellen Hitzel lined out to Boden in right field to end the game.

Offensively, Ireland had a sacrifice fly in the second, and sophomore second baseman Quinn Sheehy added an RBI single to make the score 2-0. The Sagehens added two more in the fifth as Bleichner had a two-out single with the bases loaded, and an error allowed another run to score. 

Boden was 1-for-2 with a walk in the nightcap to finish the day 5-for-7, while Morello was 2-for-4 to end the day with six hits (6-for-9).  In the opener, Ireland, and fellow freshmen Kelsey Buchanan and Sam Carlson were each 2-for-5 as the Sagehens tallied 19 hits.  

Pomona-Pitzer will be back in action on Saturday when it travels to Redlands for a doubleheader, beginning at 12 p.m.