Statesmen Swept by Clarke to Conclude Weekend Set
William Penn University Athletics
Peosta–The William Penn baseball team came up short of pulling off another league upset as it was swept by #11 Clarke in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Sunday.
William Penn (11-12, 1-7 Heart), which split with the Crusaders on Saturday, lost Sunday’s contests by scores of 6-5 and 9-5.
The Crusaders (20-3, 7-1 Heart) jumped out to a 5-0 advantage after just two innings of the opener. WPU eventually broke through in the fourth with three runs, beginning with T.J. Murphy (Jr., Woodenville, Wash., Exercise Science) plating Anthony Aguila (Jr., Highland, Calif., Kinesiology) on a single. Dominik Sawyer (Sr., Chula Vista, Calif., Psychology and Human Services) then brought in both Murphy and Colton Johnson (Sr., Westminster, Calif., Physical Education) on another single.
The hosts added their last run in the bottom half of the fourth to extend the margin to 6-3, but the Statesmen were not done. They made it interesting with a two-run sixth frame, but could not finish off the rally. In the inning, Sawyer doubled home Johnson, and Wilson Lorenzo (So., Fort Myers, Fla., Computer Science) also rounded the pads on an error–one of three by CU.
Johnson, with two runs, and Sawyer, with three RBIs, both went 2-for-3 as the navy and gold were outhit 10-8.
WPU recorded the first runs in the nightcap as two players touched home base in the second. Jeysen Delgado (Jr., Harbor City, Calif., Kinesiology) notched one of his team’s three doubles in the loss, driving in Andres Navarro (So., Orlando, Fla., Exercise Science) and Julian Villegas (Jr., Wilmington, Calif., Sociology) on the base knock.
Unfortunately, Clarke responded with the next seven runs and never relinquished the lead.
Phillip Berman (Jr., Long Beach, Calif., Education) and Cory Russell (Sr., El Cajon, Calif., Education) scored in the fifth inning, while Berman also knocked in Delgado in the sixth, but it was too little to make up the deficit.
William Penn lost the hits battle 11-8 with Berman and Villegas each finishing 2-for-4. A trio of hurlers stepped onto the mound in the second game with Trent Barnett (So., Eddyville, Iowa, Accounting) posting the best effort with a strikeout in a scoreless sixth frame.
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Tuesday for its home opener, hosting Hannibal-LaGrange in non-conference action at 4 p.m.
