Statesmen Claim Walk-Off Win, Split Day One in Rosemont
Rosemont, Ill. — The William Penn softball team travelled east Thursday to open its 2026 campaign at the Rosemont Dome Tournament.
William Penn (1-1) started the day with a 4-3 win over Judson (Ill.), while falling 7-5 to Cornerstone (Mich.).
WPU 4, Judson 3
In a slow start to the season opener, William Penn was held scoreless through the first five innings, but Tori Smith (Jr., Olympia, Wash., Secondary Education) also kept the Eagles in check, allowing just two runs through the first six innings.
The Statesmen finally broke through with a pair of runs in the sixth inning as Jessica Lathrop (So., Ankeny, Iowa, Exercise Science) doubled to left field, driving in Mckenna Vasser (Fr., Rochester, Wash., Business Management) to get William Penn on the board.
Leah Conlon (Fr., Sioux City, Iowa, Exercise Science) then evened the score with an RBI single to center field, driving in Lathrop to tie the game at 2-2 heading into the seventh frame.
The Eagles regained the lead in the top of the seventh, putting the pressure on WPU in its final at-bats of the game.
William Penn answered the challenge as Laila Smith (Jr., Olympia, Wash., Elementary Education) tripled to right field, driving in Laila Gutierrez (Jr., Seminole, Texas, Business Management) to even the score at 3-3. The bases were then loaded for Lathrop who also delivered in the clutch, drawing an RBI walk that brought in Maci Rutledge (So., Chadron, Neb., Nursing) to secure the walk-off victory.
Both sides managed seven hits with seven different Statesmen batters collecting a base knock. Lathrop paced the offense with two RBIs.
Tori Smith earned the complete-game win in the circle, finishing with four strikeouts.
Cornerstone 7, WPU 5
In an explosive first inning from both teams, Judson starting things with a four-run top of the first, but the Statesmen had answers in the bottom half.
Marin Frazee (Jr., Sioux City, Iowa, Exercise Science) sparked the Statesmen offense with an RBI single up the middle to score Laila Gutierrez (Jr., Seminole, Texas, Business Management). Frazee later crossed the plate on a ground-rule double by Laila Smith, cutting the Golden Eagle lead in half.
William Penn continued to chip away at the Cornerstone advantage when Laila Smith scored to pull the Statesmen within one at 4-3.
Both teams were held scoreless in the second inning, but Cornerstone responded in the third, scoring two runs to extend its lead to 6-3 heading into the bottom half of the inning.
William Penn once again trimmed the advantage when Rylee Reisberg (Jr., Ankeny, Iowa, Exercise Science) delivered an RBI single to the left-center gap, scoring Lathrop to make it 6-4 in favor of CU. Lathrop led off the frame with a triple.
WPU shut down the Cornerstone offense in the top of the fourth and then added to its own total in the bottom half as Leah Conlon (Fr., Sioux City, Iowa, Exercise Science) put up a sacrifice fly that scored Gutierrez, pulling the Statesmen within one.
Unfortunately, the navy and gold were unable to generate any offense over the final three innings. The Golden Eagles, however, added one more insurance run to seal the 7-5 victory.
In the matchup, the Statesmen were outhit 9-8 with Laila Smith (two doubles), Gutierrez, and Lathrop all finishing with two hits. Gutierrez also touched home plate twice.
Breleigh Mengel (Fr., Jefferson, Wis., Nursing) struck out a pair of batters as the starting pitcher, but struggled a bit through three innings of work. Austin Hitchner (Fr., McKenna, Wash., Secondary Education) relieved her and tossed four competitive frames to keep WPU in the game. Hitchner permitted just one run on three hits, while striking out two.
“I’ll take the split on opening day, even though I felt like we could’ve done 2-0,” Head Coach Laura North said. “We had some really positive things today; some newcomers and freshmen really stepped up with timely hits.”
“Our inexperience showed in the circle a little today, but it was a good learning experience,” North added. “They settled in and threw well for the most part. Our offense showed what we are capable of after we got rid of the timidity in the first game. I am looking forward to a great day to get better tomorrow.”
Up Next: WPU remains in Rosemont, Ill. Friday for the second day of the Rosemont Dome Tournament, facing Madonna (Mich.) at 12:30 p.m. before taking on Cornerstone (Mich.) at 2:30 p.m.
