Statesmen Upset #11 Saint Xavier in Opener for DH Split
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Oskaloosa–The William Penn softball team played some of its best ball of the year Sunday in claiming a non-conference doubleheader split against #11 Saint Xavier (Ill.).
The Statesmen (32-18) won the opener 1-0, but dropped the nightcap 3-0. It is the program’s second win over a ranked opponent this season, having also defeated then-#12 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 12-11 on March 4.
The hosts advanced runners to third base in the first, third, and fifth frames, but failed to bring anyone around.
William Penn, which owned a 5-1 edge in hits, finally broke through in the sixth as Diana Cassaro (So., Las Vegas, Nev., Undecided) led off with a walk and Sollita Lucero (Sr., Denver, Colo., Human Services/Sociology) scored her on a double to the right-center gap.
Jennifer Whitehead (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Biology) made the lead stick as she moved to 15-9 in 2013. The junior worked out of trouble in the first, third, and fourth innings, and then finished strong with ten consecutive outs. She struck out five against one walk for her fourth shutout of the year.
The Cougars (43-5) managed to finally get on the board in the second inning of the second contest. They scored once in that frame and then tacked on two more in the fourth (WPU had one error in the fourth).
The Statesmen put five runners in scoring position in the nightcap, but no one rounded the pads. William Penn outhit SXU 5-3, but committed two fielding mistakes.
Carly Land (Sr., Mission Viejo, Calif., Education), who fell to 17-9, struck out two and walked three.
Next: William Penn wraps up its regular season Tuesday by traveling to Davenport to face St. Ambrose in a Midwest Collegiate Conference doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.
