Big Game One Powers Statesmen to Split with Peru State
Oskaloosa — The Statesmen baseball team split its two games in conference competition against the Peru State Bobcats on Saturday.
William Penn took game one by a score of 11-4 and Peru State took the second game 19-8.
WPU 11 – PSC 4
The Statesmen started a large scoring day with McGwire Jephson (Jr., Rigby, Idaho, Business Management) scoring on a Keoni Young (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev., Exercise Science) RBI single in the first inning.
William Penn kept scoring in the second frame when Ened Perez (Jr., Orocovis, P.R., Kinesiology) delivered a double to left center field and Abraham Arroyo (Grad., Camuy, P.R., Master’s of Sports Management) scored. Aiden North (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Industrial Technology) kept it going with a 2-RBI single as Jagger Mitchell (Sr., Rock Springs, Wyo., Business Management) and Ened Perez (Jr., Orocovis, P.R., Kinesiology) scored.
The Bobcats grabbed a pair of runs in the fourth to make it 4-2.
Aiden North (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Industrial Technology) responded with another RBI and Andres Pineda (Sr., Cartagena, Colombia, Business Management) came home. Logan Bialek (Jr., South Elgin, Ill., Exercise Science) was walked home for an unearned run to finish the inning at 6-2.
Peru State grabbed another run in the top of the fifth before Sawyer Hardman (Jr., American Fork, Utah, Kinesiology) hit his seventh homer of the year to score Jackson Conjardi (Sr., Schaumberg, Ill., Education) and Shane Mailloux (So., Santee, Calif., Business Management). North grabbed another two RBIs to finish the Statesmen scoring.
Peru State scored another run in the seventh inning but could not muster more before the final out.
Bialek and Pineda each finished the day with two runs.
North led his squad with three hits during the contest, while Jephson, Young, Hardman, Arroyo, and Pineda each had two. North also led the way with five RBIs, Hardman had three.
Erik Mejia Jr. (So., Las Vegas, Nev., Exercise Science) was on the mound and earned the win with 4 1/3 inning of work, allowing only two earned runs. Garrett Neiman (Jr., Arvada, Colo., Sports Management) finished the contest, allowing three hits, for only one run.
PSC 19 – WPU 8
Neither team scored until the Bobcats had a massive 11-run third inning.
North and Bialek each had an RBI in the bottom half on the frame as Pineda and Jephson made it home to get on the board.
Peru State picked up where it left off in the top of the fourth as it scored another six runs and led 17-2.
William Penn showed life in the bottom of the fifth when it scored five runs, finished off when Mitchell hit a Sacrifice-fly to left field and Hardman nabbed the seventh run of the game for William Penn.
Peru State grabbed another run in the top of the sixth inning before Bialek scored the last run of the day for William Penn when Adrian Ayala (Jr., Omaha, Neb., Exercise Science) grounded out.
The Bobcats grabbed the final run of the day in the final frame to finish at 19-8.
Jephson and Bialek each scored two run in the game. North had another three hits and North had another two.
Next Up: William Penn hosts Peru State again in Oskaloosa on Sunday, with the doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
