Steele Hits Homers Twice as WPU Swept by #10 Central Methodist
Oskaloosa–A long weekend ended with the Statesmen softball team falling twice to #10 Central Methodist (Mo.) in a non-conference doubleheader Sunday.
William Penn (4-13) lost by scores of 9-4 and 8-2.
The Eagles (13-6) were on fire to begin the day, scoring nine runs in the first three innings, including a seven spot in the second. WPU finally got things going in the fourth as Chelsee Herron (Jr., Anaheim, Calif., Elementary Education) and Bri Zerley (Sr., Monroe, Iowa, Biology) both hit doubles and later scored.
Jorden Steele (Sr., Tacoma, Wash., Physical Education) then came up with the squad’s biggest hit, clearing the left field fence in the fifth with a solo shot. It was her first roundtripper of the campaign.
Zerley started the sixth with another double and later scored, but that was all she wrote as a seventh-inning rally stalled out on a rare triple play to end the game. Zerley and Marissa Pereyra (Jr., Fullerton, Calif., Exercise Science) were both 2-for-3, while Steele finished 2-for-4. William Penn narrowed the final hits tally to 16-10.
Lunden Young (Sr., Lewiston, Idaho, Physical Education) dropped to 3-6 in a difficult outing as she lasted just 1 1/3 frames. Paige Miguel (Jr., Hollister, Calif., Exercise Science) came out of the pen in the second, and after a tough start, she posted a solid performance that lasted 5 2/3 innings.
Much like Saturday’s double dip versus Clarke, the Statesmen took their strong ending from game one into the second contest. Steele drew a bases-loaded walk to give the home team a 1-0 advantage in the second, but a controversial swinging strike call ended the promising inning.
CMU took over from there, putting four on the board in both the fourth and sixth frames. Steele ended the day’s scoring with another solo shot in the seventh. Pereyra was 2-for-2 (one walk as well) to guide the way as William Penn was outhit 12-5.
Brittanee Grove (Sr., Runnells, Iowa, Elementary Education) showed flashes of brilliance (eight strikeouts), but three Eagle home runs were too much to overcome as she fell to 1-4 on the season.
Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Wednesday to host Ashford in a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m.