Statesmen Split with Vikings in Home Finale
Oskaloosa, Iowa — The Statesmen baseball team split its final home doubleheader of the season against rival Grand View on Sunday.
William Penn (20-21, 9-11) fell in a game one pitching battle 3-2 but was able to come away with a 9-8 victory in game two.
GVU 3 – WPU 2
The first two innings saw each side only garner one hit apiece before Grand View (21-17, 14-12) grabbed two runs in the top of the third to break the deadlock. Aiden North (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Industrial Technology) responded with two-RBI double to tie the contest at 2-2 with Andres Pineda (Sr., Cartagena, Colombia, Business Management) and Adrian Ayala (Jr., Omaha, Neb., Exercise Science) scoring.
Grand View went down quickly in the fourth but the Statesmen could not manage a run and left runners on second and third to end the inning.
An RBI single scored the last run of the game in the top of the fifth inning.
The Navy and Gold could not muster a run over the next three inning before falling in game one.
North, Shane Mailloux (So., Santee, Calif., Business Management), and Pineda each had a hit, while Pineda and Ayala each scored a run. North had the only RBIs for the team with two.
Anthony Estrada (Jr., Santa Clarita, Calif., Political Science) pitched a complete game for the Statesmen and allowed seven hits with two earned runs. He only threw one walk and struck out four.
WPU 9 – GVU 8
Grand View scored a run in the first half inning to open the night cap.
The Statesmen responded with four runs in the bottom of the frame, highlighted by Sawyer Hardman (Jr., American Fork, Utah, Kinesiology) hitting a two-run homer over the right field fence to score Keoni Young (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev., Exercise Science) and himself.
The starting Statesmen pitcher, Jack Nesje (Jr., Sioux Falls, S.D., Biology) was able to work out of a jam in the second inning before the offense and North hit an RBI single up the middle to send McGwire Jephson (Jr., Rigby, Idaho, Business Management) home and push the lead to 5-1.
After another quick inning of work for Nesje, William Penn grabbed another three runs in the third. Pineda started the frame’s scoring with a two-RBI single up the middle to score Jagger Mitchell (Sr., Rock Springs, Wyo., Business Management) and Mailloux. Pineda made it home next after North had another RBI.
William Penn scored its final run of the day in the fourth inning when Hardman made it home on a wild pitch.
The Vikings then went on to score two runs in the fourth, three runs in the sixth, and two more runs in the seventh before the Statesmen earned the final out and held on to the narrow victory.
Jephson went 3-for-4 from the plate, while Mailloux went 3-for-3. North also had two hits. Jephson and Hardman each had two runs, while North, Hardman, and Pineda each had two RBIs.
Next Up: The Statesmen head to Canton, Missouri to take on the Culver-Stockton Wildcats in conference play on Friday.
