Statesmen Fall to Mustangs, Drop to .500 in Conference Play
Cedar Rapids, Iowa — The Statesmen baseball team dropped two more games in conference competition and fall to .500 in conference against the Mount Mercy Mustangs on Friday.
Mount Mercy (22-9, 9-1) took game one by a score of 5-1 and the second game 6-3.
MMU 5 – WPU 1
William Penn (15-14, 5-5) struggled getting runs across in the early innings and found themselves down 3-0 by the end of the fourth.
In the top of the fifth frame, McGwire Jephson (Jr., Rigby, Idaho, Business Management) made it home when Abraham Arroyo (Grad., Camuy, P.R., Master’s of Sports Management) hit a sacrifice-fly to left field and got William Penn on the board.
Sadly, that was the end of scoring for the navy and gold in the contest, and the Mustangs snagged two more runs before the finish.
Shane Mailloux (So., Santee, Calif., Business Management) led the squad with two hit in three at bats as Arroyo grabbed the squad’s only RBI, and Jephson grabbed the lone run.
MMU 6 – WPU 3
The nightcap started out slow before the Mustangs scored a run in the bottom of the third inning.
The Statesmen were able to respond when Aiden North (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Industrial Technology) sent an RBI single up the middle and Keoni Young (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev., Exercise Science) scored. North then made it home later in the inning, when Jagger Mitchell (Sr., Rock Springs, Wyo., Business Management) reached on a fielder’s choice.
Mount Mercy then scored five runs over the next three frames too hold a 6-2 lead.
William Penn looked to have life in the final frame when Andres Pineda (Sr., Cartagena, Colombia, Business Management) hit Ened Perez (Jr., Orocovis, P.R., Kinesiology) home. The Statesmen had multiple runners in scoring positions with no outs before two strikeouts and a fielder’s choice ended the contest at 6-3.
Young, Perez, and North each scored a run, while Perez also led the team with two hit. North, Mitchell, and Pineda each netted an RBI, as well.
“We had two solid pitching starts Friday from Neiman and Peters, Mailloux also hit will today.” Head Coach Mike Laird said, “Mount Mercy was the better team, coming up with several 2 out hits with runners in scoring position. We did not. Credit their strong pitching as well. We had chances but didn’t get it done and stranded runners again.”
Next Up: The Statesmen stay in Cedar Rapids to take on the Mount Mercy Mustangs on Saturday, with the first half of the doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
