Season in Review: WPU Baseball Continues to Assert Themselves as Contenders
Oskaloosa, Iowa—Statesmen baseball returned to the diamond in 2020 looking to defend their regular-season Heart of America Athletic Conference crown.
William Penn retained most of its core from a season ago and mixed in with a plethora of newcomer talent, WPU looked destined to once again finish towards the top of the conference but unfortunately the season was cut short as the Covid-19 pandemic ended it prematurely.
Under the guidance of Head Coach Mike Laird in his 38th season, the Statesmen finished 20-10 overall and 4-4 in the Heart of America Athletic Conference.
WPU began its season with a three-game sweep over Harris-Stowe State on January 31-February 1. In game one, the navy and gold outlasted the Hornets 11-7 in an extra-inning affair that took 15 innings to decide the winner. The Statesmen rallied for one run in the ninth to tie the game at 6-6 and the game was scoreless until the 15th when WPU plated five runs, capped off by a Jameson Hart (Jr., Sarnia, Ontario, Sports Management) grand slam that cleared the centerfield fence.
The offense was the story for William Penn in game two as they scored 16 runs en route to a 16-8 win. Jarrett Hunt (Sr., Logan, Utah, Digital Communication) was feeling it at the dish as he collected four hits and six RBIs to lead the squad.
After defeating HSSU 5-1 in the series finale, Coach Laird praised his team for fighting through some tough weather and finding a way to collect the wins, stating, “The guys hung together to pull out the three wins in some tough conditions. The offense finally caught fire on Saturday”.
After splitting a four-game series with College of the Ozarks, the navy and gold headed to Lincoln, Neb., to take on Doane. The Statesmen claimed three victories in four games over the Tigers taking game one 13-3 on the back of a solid pitching performance courtesy of Chase Stratton (Sr., Clearfield, Utah, Sports Management) who went the distance (7 IP), allowing three earned runs, and striking out nine. After dropping game two, 7-6, William Penn stormed back on Sunday to take game three, 13-11, and game four, 8-7. Hart supplied the power for the Statesmen as he was 7-15 with two home runs and seven RBIs in the series.
The Statesmen began Heart of America Athletic Conference play on February 28 with doubleheader against Evangel in Springfield, Mo. then a doubleheader with MidAmerica Nazarene the following day in Olathe, Kansas. Unfortunately, WPU did not get off to the start they were anticipating, dropping the doubleheader to Evangel then the first matchup with the Pioneers the following day. However, the team found a way to pull together and salvage the weekend with a big 8-2 win over MNU to provide some momentum going forward. Tyler Gregory (Jr., Peoria Heights, Ill., Exercise Science) picked up the win after going 4 2/3 strong innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits, and striking out a pair.
A week later, the Statesmen played its home opener beginning with a doubleheader against Baker on Saturday then a doubleheader against an uber-talented offensive ballclub in Benedictine. The bats broke out in a big way against Baker as William Penn took game one, 12-5, then followed it up with a 13-5 win in the nightcap. Adrian Garcia (Sr., Ontario, Calif., Mechanical Engineering) came up big for the club in the pair of games as he collected five RBIs while going 3-8 with a double.
After dropping the first game to Benedictine on Sunday, WPU ended the weekend on a high note with a 4-3 win. Gregory picked up another win as he lasted 6 1/3 innings, surrendering three earned runs while striking out eight. The junior got into some danger in the seventh but Tanner Bedier (So., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) came in and closed the door to pick up the save.
From there, William Penn embarked on their annual spring break trip to Tucson, Arizona, where they tore through the competition, winning seven of the eight games, including a massive 30-13 win over Dakota Wesleyan. Jake Vernon (Sr., Elkhart, Ind., Interdisciplinary Studies) had a week to remember as he finished 15-30 (.500) with four home runs and 13 RBIs while adding six walks.
Without knowing it at the time, the Statesmen played their final game of the 2020 campaign in Tucson with a 5-4 against Mayville State in nine innings. Stratton did not factor into the decision but was brilliant across his 7 1/3 innings pitched as he struck out 14 batters.
Despite some injurie issues early in the season, the Statesmen were really beginning to play their best ball heading into a loaded conference schedule and were looking forward to defending their 2019 Heart of America Athletic Conference championship but never had the opportunity to do so in 2020 but Coach Laird and his staff are looking forward to doing so in 2021 with most of the squad returning.
“We were able to get a lot of games in early which told us quite a bit about our team,” Head Coach Mike Laird said, “We played only four games of the 30 at home which is very tough and dealt with constant lineup issues due to numerous injuries. I believe we only played five games all year with a full starting lineup. We improved offensively the second half of the year, the defense was pretty sound all season, and some athleticism allowed us to run more. This was a real positive group of guys and we look forward to defending our Heart Championship from 2019.”
