WPU Falters in Doubleheader Sweep by CMU
Fayette, Mo.–The Statesmen baseball team came up empty twice in two high-scoring Heart of America Athletic Conference matchups against No. 24 Central Methodist Saturday.
WPU (14-14, 7-9 Heart) fell by scores of 10-8 and 17-12.
William Penn owned a 13-11 advantage in hits in the opener, but could not hold off the Eagles (20-10, 14-6 Heart) down the stretch.
The visitors scored three runs in the first, courtesy of an RBI single by Hector Dominguez (Jr., Fontana, Calif., Exercise Science) and a two-run one-bagger by Zach Otten (Sr., Mapleton, Ill., Business Management). Unfortunately, Central Methodist got all of the runs back in the bottom half and then pulled ahead with another tally in the second.
Abraham Arroyo (Grad., Camuy, P.R., Master’s of Sports Management) tied the contest in the third by tagging up and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Keoni Young (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev., Exercise Science), while Bradley Soto (Jr., Davenport, Fla., Business Management) gave the lead back to WPU with a run-scoring single in the fourth. An additional run was tacked on in the fifth for a 6-4 edge.
Still up 6-5 entering the top of the sixth, the navy and gold stretched their margin to three on RBI singles from Dominguez and Otten.
William Penn was unable to close out the opener, though, as the home squad scored five times in the bottom of the sixth.
Soto, Otten, and Dominguez each produced three hits, while Otten drove in three and Dominguez finished with two RBIs and two runs. Soto and Arroyo scored twice as well.
Young also added two base knocks in the first contest.
Both WPU and CMU tallied 15 hits in the nightcap, but the Statesmen could not keep pace with the Eagles in the runs column.
William Penn once again struck first, putting five runs on the board in the first, including RBI singles by Dominguez and Ened Perez (So., Orocovis, P.R., Kinesiology) as well as a two-run single by Otten.
Central Methodist unfortunately responded with 11 unanswered runs during its initial two half frames and kept the Statesmen in the rearview the rest of the way.
WPU’s offense did, however, catch fire once more in the fourth to pull within one. Soto and Juan Perez (Jr., Harlem, N.Y., Sports Management) drove in runs with doubles, while Young and Otten contributed RBI singles as well.
The Statesmen posted two more runs down the stretch, including a fifth-inning single by Soto and a sixth-inning double by Carlos Herrera (Jr., Bronx, N.Y., Kinesiology). It was not enough to make up the difference, however, as CMU also scored several more runs in its waning frames.
Otten was his crew’s best hitter at 3-for-4 with three runs, while the quartet of Soto, Young, Juan Perez, and Jagger Mitchell (Jr., Rock Springs, Wyo., Business Management) all contributed two hits. Pinchrunner Justin Knudson (So., San Jose, Calif., Sports Management) led WPU with three runs, and Soto and Arroyo each touched home plate on a pair of occasions.
“We had a lot of good offense today, but unfortunately our pitching, especially out of the bullpen, was, and has been, our Achilles’ heel,” Head Coach Mike Laird said.
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Saturday to face Benedictine in a Heart doubleheader at 1 p.m.
