WPU Takes Series from C-SC
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa–The William Penn baseball team was back on the diamond Sunday to conclude a three-game set with Heart of America Athletic Conference foe Culver-Stockton.
The Statesmen (21-6, 7-3 Heart) took game one of the series with the Wildcats (8-19, 4-9 Heart) with a 5-2 victory on Saturday afternoon. They returned Sunday to split the doubleheader losing 4-2 and winning 5-2 once again to take the series.
C-SC 4, WPU 2
Tanner Bedier (Fr., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) was on the mound for the first game of the double-dip. Bedier was very effective keeping the Wildcats in check through the first three innings of play but ran into some trouble in the fourth when the visitors crossed home plate three times to take a 3-2 lead. They then added an insurance run in the fifth to put themselves up 4-2.
The offense didn’t muster up much support as they were stymied by Culver-Stockton garnering only three hits in the occasion. William Penn did manage to push a couple of runs across in the third inning. With the bases loaded, Seth Reisbeck (Sr., Meridian, Idaho, History) hit a ball softly to the Wildcats shortstop and the throw pulled their first basemen off the bag allowing Adrian Garcia (Jr., Ontario, Calif., Mechanical Engineering) to score. Following Reisbeck, Jarrett Hunt (Jr., Logan, Utah, Digital Communication) produced a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Cassian Castillo (Jr., San Leandro, Calif., Business Management). It was a good opportunity for the Statesmen to put more runs up on the board but it wouldn’t come to fruition.
Bedier, Hunt, and Nathan Ball (Sr., Moses Lake, Wash., Psychology) all finished with a hit apiece in the loss.
C-SC 2, WPU 5
William Penn has proved to be a resilient team all season long and they proved it once more in the final game of the series.
They turned to their 6’6 right handed pitcher Alec Myers (Jr., Casper, Wyo., Biology) to start and he delivered. The junior lasted 5.2 innings, allowing only a pair of earned runs while striking out three and walking none. The trio of Lionel Colon (Jr., Vieques, P.R., Business Management), Zach Edgar (Jr., Elgin, Ill., Business Management), and Chase Stratton (Jr., Clearfield, Utah, Sports Management) held the Wildcats down without a whimper in the final 3.1 innings with Stratton picking up his first save in a Statesmen uniform.
After going down 1-0 early in the top half, the navy and gold took the lead in the bottom of the third inning on back-to-back RBI singles by Blaze Speas (Sr., O’Fallon, Mo., Wellness and Recreation) and Reisbeck, scoring Dominic Bravo (Jr., Downey, Calif., Digital Communication) and Bedier.
The Statesmen hung another crooked number on the board in the bottom of the fifth plating two more runs, highlighted by another Speas RBI single scoring Bedier.
For good measure in the sixth, Bravo strolled to the plate and found himself in a 3-1 count. The junior got a fast and crushed it over the left field fence for a solo home run to put his squad up 5-2 in the late innings. It was Bravo’s first home run of the season and his first in a Statesmen uniform.
Bedier continued his torrid hot streak at the plate reaching base four times in the ballgame. The freshman is leading the team in on-base percentage with .532, he also stole a base in the win. Bravo and Speas logged multi-hit games going 2-3 and 2-4 respectively.
Next Up: William Penn will host Mount Mercy in a doubleheader on Wednesday (4/3) with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m. in Oskaloosa.
