William Penn Upended Twice Against MoVal
William Penn University Athletics
Marshall, Mo.–The host Vikings of Missouri Valley were better at taking advantage of a windy day as the Statesmen baseball team was swept in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Sunday.
William Penn (20-23, 10-18 Heart) lost by scores of 12-4 and 19-2. The losses put the program in a very perilous position; with just four games left in the regular season, WPU now trails Peru State (13-15 Heart) by three games for the final spot in the Heart Tournament.
The Statesmen return to Oskaloosa next week to host a four-game Heart set against Graceland. Both Friday and Saturday’s twinbills start at 1 p.m.
Colton Johnson (Jr., Westminster, Calif., Physical Education) started Sunday’s double dip with a bang, hitting a solo home run in the first inning. It is his first roundtripper of the year.
Unfortunately, the Vikings (25-25, 14-14 Heart) responded with seven runs in the bottom of the first. The score remained 7-1 after four frames, but the visitors gained two scores back in the top of the fifth when Javier Gonzalez (Jr., Lakeside, Calif., Physical Education) and Tevin Nishiyama (Sr., Honolulu, Hawaii, Physical Education) came around on an MVC error.
The Vikings put the game out of reach with five runs in the sixth, however, in a game that saw the hosts own an 18-8 edge in hits. Anthony York (Jr., Chula Vista, Calif., Physical Education) finished off the scoring in the opener by matching Johnson with a solo home run of his own. York’s HR was also his first of 2016.
Dominik Sawyer (Jr., San Diego, Calif., Psychology and Human Services) and J.P. Rios (Sr., San Diego, Calif., Business Management) both wrapped up the first game with 2-for-3 efforts.
WPU started the nightcap well with a run in the first and another in the third. Daniel Macias (Jr., Chula Vista, Calif., Physical Education) touched home plate for the initial run, while York scored in the third.
The remainder of the windy afternoon belonged to MVC as it managed multiple runs in four latter frames. WPU was outhit 18-9 with Johnson and York each going 2-for-4.
