William Penn Caps Rosemont Trip with Pair of Wins
Rosemont, Ill. — The William Penn softball team succeeded on the third and final day of the Rosemont Dome Tournament Saturday.
WPU swept the day, outscoring its opponents 19-7, highlighted by a 12-1, five-inning victory over Mount Mary before edging No. 21 Indiana Wesleyan, 7-6.
WPU 12, Mount Mary 1
Breleigh Mengel (Fr., Jefferson, Wis., Nursing) controlled the game in the circle for the Statesmen, tossing four scoreless innings while allowing just one hit and striking out five.
Laila Smith (Jr., Olympia, Wash., Elementary Education) sparked the William Penn offense in the bottom of the first with a sacrifice fly that brought home Laila Gutierrez (Jr., Seminole, Texas, Business Management).
From there, it was all William Penn. Leah Conlon (Fr., Sioux City, Iowa, Exercise Science) added to the Statesmen’s total later in the first, putting the ball in play to score Mckenna Vasser (Fr., Rochester, Wash., Business Management) and extend the lead to 2-0.
WPU did most of its damage in the second frame with seven runs, beginning with a ‘Little League’ home run by Eva Viox (So., Columbia, Mo., Exercise Science). The sophomore singled to left before coming around to score on two errors as WPU extended its lead to 3-0.
Still in the second, Laila Gutierrez extended the Statesmen’s margin with an RBI single to left, bringing home Elyse Rios (Sr., Iowa City, Iowa, Business Management). Gutierrez later advanced to second on an error, which also allowed Marin Frazee(Jr., Sioux City, Iowa, Exercise Science) and Austin Hitchner (Fr., McKenna, Wash., Secondary Education) to score, pushing the tally to 6-0.
Gutierrez then scored on a passed ball, giving the Statesmen a seven-run cushion.
Maintaining control in the second inning, Conlon tripled into left-center, driving in Maci Rutledge (So., Chadron, Neb., Nursing). Jessica Lathrop (So., Ankeny, Iowa, Exercise Science) followed with an RBI to score Conlon, stretching the lead to 9-0.
The Statesmen continued their offensive surge in the third inning as Josephine Christiansen (Fr., Marengo, Iowa, Biology) reached on a Blue Angel error, allowing Catrina Dixson (Jr., Pella, Iowa, Exercise Science) and Frazee to score and extend the lead to 11-0.
The Statesmen added their 12th and final run in the bottom of the fourth as Kali Washburn (Fr., Center Point, Iowa, Human Resources) delivered an RBI double, driving in Maddison Morgan (Fr., Rock Falls, Ill., Exercise Science).
Mount Mary scratched across a run in the top of the fifth, but it wasn’t enough to extend the game as WPU secured the run-rule victory in five innings.
The Statesmen totaled 10 hits, highlighted by triples from Conlon and Morgan. Gutierrez and Frazee both finished with two hits and two runs scored.
WPU 7, Indiana Wesleyan 6
The Statesmen grabbed the early lead in the first inning as Vasser brought home Laila Gutierrez, putting WPU on top 1-0.
Gutierrez delivered again in the second inning, ripping an RBI single to score Lathrop from third and extending the WPU lead to 2-0.
Tori Smith held the Wildcats scoreless through three innings, but IWU broke through in the fourth with three runs to take its first lead of the game at 3-2.
Gutierrez continued to cause problems for Indiana Wesleyan, delivering another RBI single to even the score at three apiece heading into the fifth inning.
In the top of the fifth, however, the Wildcats scored three runs to extend their advantage to 6-3.
Scoring stalled for both sides over the next few innings as Shannon Van Rheenen (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Nursing) shut out IWU over 2 2/3 scoreless frames. The freshman gave up just two hits, while striking out three against one walk.
Down 6-3 entering the bottom of the seventh, William Penn chipped away at the IWU lead as Lathrop tripled into right-center, bringing home Conlon and Tori Smith to cut the deficit to just one run.
Eva Viox kept the momentum going, delivering an RBI single that brought home Lathrop to even the score at 6-6.
Laila Gutierrez then came through in the clutch, ripping a single into left field to drive in Rios and deliver WPU’s second win of the day.
Gutierrez’s timely hitting was a key factor for the Statesmen all day. She stood out for William Penn, going 3-for-4 at the plate and driving in three RBIs. Lathrup recorded two RBIs and two runs, while Viox managed a pair of base knocks.
“It was a great day. Every single player that traveled contributed to our success today,” Head Coach Laura North said. “Game 1 was a fun outing getting a lot of reserve players an opportunity to get in on the action.”
“Game 2 was intense with #21 IW. They have offensive threats up and down their lineup,” North added. “I thought Tori and Shannon did well minimizing them. They had to use ‘small ball’ to get on the board, and that showed us what we need to address in practice this week. Offensively, the grit of our team was undeniable. Huge timely hits and smart softball got us the win. This was a big step for us. Super proud of the whole team this weekend!”
Up Next: William Penn travels to Sioux Center, Iowa at the ASB Sports Complex to play in the Dordt Dome Tournament on Friday, taking on Dordt at 12:00 p.m. and Mount Marty at 2:00 p.m.
