Statesmen Split Low-Scoring Double Dip with Yellowjackets
Lamoni–The William Penn baseball team opened up a four-game road set by splitting a pair of Heart of America Athletic Conference games with Graceland Saturday.
WPU (17-24, 9-17) won the opener 4-1, but fell in the nightcap 2-0.
The visitors outhit the Yellowjackets 9-6 in the first outing and got on the board first with a second-inning single by Marco Ayala (So., San Francisco, Calif., New Media) that brought in Hector Dominguez (So., Fontana, Calif., Exercise Science). The run was unearned as the visitors committed the game’s lone error earlier in the frame.
Justin Martinez (Sr., Bronx, N.Y., Sports Management) then doubled in Nick George (Sr., Sarina, Ontario, Sociology) in the third, while Dominguez made it 4-0 in the fifth as he lifted a ball over the right field fence to also bring around Zach Otten (Jr., Mapleton, Ill.).
George and Martinez both recorded two hits with a walk, while Dominguez added a base on balls to his home run.
The run support was more than enough for Abel Madueno (Jr., San Bernardino, Calif., Business Management) who struck out 10 (two walks) in a complete game effort.
The nightcap went down to the wire as well, but the visitors, who were outhit 4-2, could not break through against GU pitching. William Penn did not have a baserunner until the fourth inning and unfortunately was unable to move anyone into scoring position.
Brian Thomas (Sr., Shingle Springs, Calif., Sports Management) was the tough luck losing hurler as he worked six innings and permitted just two runs on four hits. The senior struck out four Yellowjackets and did not allow a walk.
After being shut out through four frames, GU tallied both of its runs in the fifth.
“Abel Madueno dominated the opener and Hector Dominguez hit a huge two-run homer for us,” Head Coach Mike Laird said. “Brian Thomas also threw well in the second game, but unfortunately we had some poor plays on defense and our hitters could not figure out their pitcher.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Lamoni Sunday to face Graceland in another Heart doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
