Statesmen Upset by Clarke to End Season
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Davenport–The William Penn softball team defeated Clarke all four times the squads faced off during the regular season, but it was a different story Saturday in the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Play-In Game.
The fourth-seeded Statesmen (32-21) fell 2-1 to #5 Clarke, eliminating itself from the tournament.
The loss also ends WPU’s 2013 campaign and the collegiate careers of eight seniors. The 2013 class included Brailey Freed (Loveland, Colo., Physical Education), Callie Henry (Earlham, Iowa, Elementary Education), Ashley Kingery (Knoxville, Iowa, Public Accounting), Carly Land (Sr., Mission Viejo, Calif., Education), Cassie Lohman (Burbank, Calif., Sociology), Sollita Lucero (Denver, Colo., Human Services/Sociology), Molly Miller (Kalona, Iowa, Business Management), and K.C. Routos (Newcastle, Wash., Physical Education).
Land started the contest, but had a tough beginning, giving up both of CU’s runs in the second frame. The senior (17-11) walked two of her four batters in the inning. She also struck out five in 5 1/3 innings.
William Penn, which matched Clarke (8-25) with five hits, finally grouped together hits in the fourth inning. Jessica Christensen (Fr., Marysville, Wash., Sociology) led off with a double to right field, and three batters later Diana Cassaro (Sr., Loveland, Colo., Otero CC) brought her in with a single to center. Cassaro paced the Statesmen offense with a 2-for-3 showing.
The navy and gold unfortunately never threatened the Crusaders again, failing to get any other runners into scoring position.
Jennifer Whitehead (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Biology) relieved Land in the sixth and struck out two players in 1 2/3 innings.
