Pitcher Riley Holcomb (junior) of the Occidental baseball team struck out nine in an 8-2 win over CalTech, March 1. The team split the doubleheader series for the day, leveling at a 2-8 record on the year and 1-5 in conference play, as of that day.
According to Holcomb, who allowed two runs on four hits, this has only been his second time pitching more than one inning in a single game for Occidental due to a bout of injuries.
“It’s come after a long road of injuries and getting overlooked on the roster,” Holcomb said.
Holcomb said his first year was disrupted when he aggravated a torn labrum from his early playing days.
According to Holcomb, he was set to come back into action during his sophomore year, but another minor injury further delayed his return to full pitching action.
“I had a weird pinched nerve in my neck,” Holcomb said. “So I came back at the end of the last year.”
According to Holcomb, he returned to the mound Feb. 16 against George Fox for three innings, leading up to his March 1 performance against CalTech. At this game against CalTech, Holcomb said he doubled his innings and tripled his strikeouts.
Fellow pitcher Matthew Uytioco (junior), who was in the same recruiting class as Holcomb, said Holcomb consistently brings a positive attitude to every game, a boon for the locker room.
“If everybody on the team came to the field with the energy and the positivity and the kind of camaraderie he has, I think we’re in a good spot,” Uytioco said.
According to Uytioco, Holcomb was one of the members of their recruiting class who helped them bond as a team in the early stages of getting to know each other.
“I feel like my class [was] a little shy when we came in,” Uytioco said. “But [Holcomb], he was one of the guys that would rally us together, whether it was on weekends or going to do homework or just hanging out in general.”
Uytioco said it has not been easy to see Holcomb battle injury over the years, but this recent success is indicative of his perseverance.
“It really sucked to see him go through that stuff, but I feel like that just made him even better,” Uytioco said. “That really comes to show how deserving he is of the success that he’s been having on the field.”
Uytioco said Holcomb’s hard work and dominant performance will hopefully set the tone for the team for the rest of the season.
“Going forward, if he continues to do it, I feel like a lot of guys will continue to put in the work that he’s also putting in,” Uytioco said.
Holcomb said that beyond the work he has put in to recover, he credits a big part of his success to his faith.
“A lot of it came from God, too, for me,” Holcomb said. “That’s a big part of why I play baseball is because I feel like God put me in the position. All glory goes to Him.”
Bella Wilde
Occidental women’s water polo team played four games back-to-back against a smattering of Division I, II and III opponents March 1. They dropped all four — 4-9 against UC Merced, 7-13 against Cal State Monterey Bay, 6-14 against McKendree and 7-9 against Augustana.
Utility player Bella Wilde (sophomore) racked up seven shots, three assists, four steals, one successful sprint and one drawn exclusion over the four games. According to Wilde, since three of their four opponents were Division I or II, the team did not expect any easy matchups.
“They’re all kind of out of our league,” Wilde said. “They’re bigger schools and can give scholarships to their athletes.”
Still, Wilde said that punching up gives them lots of film and experience to improve upon for future games.
“It’s good to play at a high level and try and see what’s working, and I think after that weekend we made some really good adjustments,” Wilde said.
Wilde said the team’s win March 5 against Redlands was the result of improvements learned from the losses the past weekend.
“We made a bunch of adjustments Monday [and] Tuesday in practice, which I think led to our win,” Wilde said.
According to Wilde, taking early losses before conference play can help the team bounce back later in the season, tried and true.
“It’s good to do that early in the season because then you know exactly what those weaknesses are and can work on them,” Wilde said.
Emma Wilderman (sophomore), a women’s water polo utility player as well, a position designated to adapt to playing anywhere in the pool, said Wilde is especially valuable for her defensive presence on the team.
“[Wilde] contributes a lot on the defensive end, so she helps prevent [the other] team from scoring on us a lot,” Wilderman said. “She helps [prevent] their highest percentage shots from going in.”
According to Wilderman, Wilde also raises the energy of the locker room through her determined mindset.
“My favorite thing about [Wilde] and what she brings to the team [is] she’s always really high energy,” Wilderman said. “She always is working on getting better and fixing small mistakes.”
Wilderman also said that Wilde is a great role model for the younger members of the team.
“She’s definitely good at being a good example for our first years and helping them when they have questions about the sport and Oxy in general,” Wilderman said.
Wilde, Wilderman and one other current member of the team, Tori Carlson (sophomore), were all part of a small and tight-knit recruiting class, according to Wilderman. She said the team has helped them form close and inspiring friendships.
“The team’s been a really good environment for building friendships both in and out of the pool,” Wilderman said. “She definitely pushes me to better every day.”
Contact Noah Kim at nkim4@oxy.edu
