Statesmen Start Spring Break with 6-3 Mark
William Penn University Athletics
Tucson, Ariz.–The William Penn softball team has started its spring break trip with six wins in nine contests.
The Statesmen (9-5) opened the trip last Sunday with a 3-1 loss to Madonna (Mich.) before rebounding with a 3-1 win over Concordia-Moorhead (Minn.). The victory started a five-game winning streak.
William Penn swept #12 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 12-11 and Aquinas (Mich.) 4-1 Monday before winning 6-0 over Trinity International (Ill.) and 10-5 over Peru State (Neb.) Wednesday. Thursday began with a 4-1 setback to Calumet-St. Joseph (Ind.), but the navy and gold answered with a 4-0 shutout of Hope International (Calif.). The day ended with an 11-0, five-inning loss to Olivet Nazarene.
Madonna 3, William Penn 1
The Statesmen outhit Madonna 8-4, but two errors allowed for two late runs by the foes in the fourth inning (three errors total by WPU).
Molly Miller (Sr., Kalona, Iowa, Business Management) had three hits and drove in K.C. Routos (Sr., Newcastle, Wash., Physical Education) with the team’s only run. Jennifer Whitehead (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Biology) struck out four against two walks in the loss. She did not permit an earned run.
William Penn 3, Concordia-Moorhead 1
A 7-5 edge in base knocks was utilized for a Statesmen win in Sunday’s nightcap. Miller and Jessica Christensen (Fr., Marysville, Wash., Sociology) each recorded two hits, while Callie Henry (Sr., Earlham, Iowa, Elementary Education) posted two RBIs. Christensen, who also scored twice, recorded the team’s lone home run so far this week against Concordia-Moorhead.
Carly Land (Sr., Mission Viejo, Calif., Education) managed 11 strikeouts (two walks) for the win.
William Penn 12, Olivet Nazarene 11
Despite trailing 9-3 entering the bottom of the fifth frame, William Penn did not fold up shop, but instead rallied for a great late-inning victory. The navy and gold, who outhit the Tigers 13-10, picked up three runs in the fifth, four more in the sixth, and two in the seventh. The squad overcame five errors.
Routos, Bri Zerley (So., Monroe, Iowa, Biology), Ashley Kingery (Sr., Knoxville, Iowa, Public Accounting), and Sonia Ray (Jr., San Diego, Calif., Physical Education) all tallied two hits, while Miller, Routos, and Cassie Lohman (Sr., Burbank, Calif., Sociology) finished with three RBIs apiece. Ashlee Dennis (So., Loveland, Colo., Biology) crossed home plate three times and Kingery and Zerley each rounded the bases twice.
Whitehead earned the win, striking out nine with three bases on balls.
William Penn 4, Aquinas 1
Three runs in the final frame lifted William Penn to another triumph. Paced by two hits from both Lohman and Miller, the Statesmen outhit Aquinas 7-4.
Routos and Miller both drove in a pair of runs and Lohman scored twice. Land’s five strikeouts (two walks) helped her to another win.
William Penn 6, Trinity International 0
The program’s second shutout of 2013 came via a punishing 10-1 edge in hits by WPU.
Lohman’s three hits were a team high, while Miller and Zerley recorded two each. Miller and Kingery both scored two times versus the Trojans.
Whitehead struck out a dozen batters against no walks.
William Penn 10, Peru State 5
All ten Statesmen runs were tallied in the fifth frame as William Penn tripled up the Bobcats in hits, 12-4.
Ray, Zerley, Diana Cassaro (So., Las Vegas, Nev., Undecided), and Brailey Freed (Sr., Loveland, Colo., Physical Education) all collected two hits, while Zerley’s four RBIs topped all players. Cassaro and Routos scored twice.
Seven strikeouts were produced by Land against three walks. Only one of her runs was earned as five errors nearly sunk William Penn.
Calumet-St. Joseph 4, William Penn 1
Both teams finished with six hits (one hit for six different WPU players), but two errors proved too much to overcome. Land had three strikeouts.
William Penn 4, Hope International 0
The Statesmen pounded their foe 12-2 in hits and scored all four of their runs in the first inning.
Routos’ three hits were a team best, while Miller, Christensen, and Ray had two hits apiece. Ray drove in three runs as well. Whitehead, who is currently 4-3 with a 1.39 Earned Run Average, tallied five strikeouts in her third shutout of the season.
Olivet Nazarene 11, William Penn 0
The Statesmen committed ten errors in one of the worst defensive outings in recent memory. Christensen and Henry had the team’s only hits as William Penn lost that category 7-2.
Land (5-2, 1.38 ERA) unfortunately failed to get out of the first inning, and the defense did not help Whitehead in relief (eight errors after the opening frame).
Next: William Penn finishes off the week by facing Robert Morris (Ill.) and Calumet-St. Joseph Friday and Park (Mo.) and Madonna Saturday.
