Statesmen Swept by Ravens
Atchison, Kan.–The William Penn softball team ended up on the short end twice as it faced Benedictine in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday.
WPU (9-11, 3-5 Heart) fell by scores of 3-0 and 12-4 (6 innings).
The visitors were outhit just 7-4 by the Ravens (16-8, 6-4 Heart) in the opener, but only put a runner in scoring position once, doing so in the fourth inning.
BC scored the game’s initial run in the first and then added two more in the third. Lexi Riccardi (Sr., Redwood City, Calif., Biology) led the offense with two hits, while Valeria Quiroga (Fr., San Benito, Texas, Sociology) tallied one hit and walked once as well.
Peyton Parker (Jr., LaPorte City, Iowa, Sports Management) was strong in relief. Entering in the third inning, she kept the Statesmen close, striking out four in four innings of two-hit, shutout work.
After two scoreless innings, Quiroga gave the Statesmen the lead with a one-out solo home run, her eighth roundtripper of the season.
Benedictine unfortunately answered with three runs in the bottom of the third.
Jayde Tucker (So., Los Alamos, N.M.) and Quiroga started WPU’s fifth-inning rally with walks and then Riccardi singled to load the bases. On the play, the Ravens’ first baseman committed an error that allowed Tucker to score. Rebecca De Leon (Fr., Ceres, Calif.) then stepped to the plate and delivered a single to right-center that plated both Quiroga and Riccardi for a 4-3 WPU advantage.
The home squad owned the remainder of the outing, however, by recapturing the lead in the bottom of the fifth and then putting the game away with seven runs in the sixth.
The Statesmen lost the hits battle 11-5 with Quiroga going 2-for-3. Riccardi also reached base twice with a hit and a walk.
Three WPU hurlers entered the game and while none had much success, Bianca Castillo (So., Rio Rico, Ariz., Sociology) was a bit of feast-or-famine pitcher as she struck out five in 2 2/3 innings.
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Monday to host Graceland in a Heart doubleheader at 4 p.m.
