Riley James
Occidental pitcher Riley James (junior) started off an impressive three-game sweep against Rutgers-Newark March 19 and 20. James started in the Saturday game, allowing only two earned runs and striking out eight batters over eight innings in the 4-3 victory. The Tigers extended their winning streak to 13 games and sit atop the SCIAC standings.
“I think we have a lot to prove in the next couple weeks,” James said. “We haven’t played some of the top teams in the conference yet, and we have Redlands coming up next week, so playing the number two team in the conference will really be a test of our process and the type of baseball we have been playing. I think our team is very talented and one of the best and most fun I have been on. If we take one game at a time and trust our process we will be a tough team to beat.”
Madison Romero
Softball pitcher Madison Romero (first year) proved a critical factor in the Tigers’ decisive 5-1 win over Cal Lutheran March 19. Romero started for the fourth time in her career at Occidental and earned her third win as a starting pitcher Saturday, allowing just one earned run. She leads the Tigers in ERA at 3.50.
“It was great to see us find our bats and come back fighting for the second game to get the win,” Romero said. “Our first game on Sunday was close, but we were not able to get it done. The second game we made a few errors, had a pretty bad injury that cost runs, and were not able to string enough hits together. We have been working extremely hard and are ready to come back and win more games for the second half of our season.”
