William Penn Splits With Hannibal-LaGrange
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa—The William Penn University baseball team hosted non-conference baseball on Tuesday with a matchup against Hannibal-LaGrange University.
The Statesmen (25-6, 11-3 Heart) split the doubleheader with the Trojans (13-24, 5-19 AMC), dropping game one 13-10 and bouncing back to dominate game two 15-1.
HLU 13, WPU 10
Game one was a high scoring affair that saw both offenses get the better of their counterparts on the mound.
WPU came out of the gates right where they left off after sweeping Peru State this past weekend. In the bottom of the first the navy and gold put up three runs on six consecutive singles with one out in the inning.
The Trojans responded in a big way in the top of the second, sparking a big rally of their own to put up five runs against the Statesmen and taking a 5-3 advantage.
In the bottom of the second frame, William Penn was able to scrap out a run. With one out, Adrian Garcia (Jr., Ontario, Calif., Mechanical Engineering) worked a walk and Tanner Bedier (Fr., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) followed suit after he was hit by a pitch. A double steal from Garcia and Bedier put a couple of runners in scoring position for the Statesmen. Blaze Speas (Sr., O’Fallon, Mo., Wellness and Recreation) reached on a walk to load the bases for Jarrett Hunt (Jr., Logan, Utah, Digital Communication). Hunt promptly put a ball in play that resulted in an RBI fielder’s choice that scored Garcia to cut the Trojan lead to just 5-4.
Unfortunately, Hannibal-LaGrange would respond once more, plating four runs in the third inning of play to extend its lead to 9-4. In the sixth, the Trojans attempted to put the game out of reach with another big four run inning in the sixth to put them up 13-4 late.
The Statesmen did not go quietly though. The bottom of the sixth featured the navy and gold scoring three runs, highlighted by a hot shot off the bat of Hunt that was misplayed by the Trojan first basemen, scoring Garcia and Bedier. Dominic Bravo (Jr., Downey, Calif., Digital Communication) added a sacrifice fly later in the stanza.
William Penn gave it one more shot in the bottom the seventh. Trailing 13-7, Bedier blasted a three-run home run, his third of the season over the left field fence to give his team some momentum wth nobody out in the inning. After a Seth Reisbeck (Sr., Meridian, Id., History/Government) single, the Statesmen were looking to extend the game and possibly bring the tying run to the plate. Boston Romero (Sr., Fairfield, Calif., Sociology) did all he could, sending a liner right back up the middle that somehow found the glove of the Trojan pitcher, crushing the hopes of the Navy and Gold as they fell 13-10.
Bedier, Reisbeck, and Romero all finished with multi-hit efforts while Hunt produced a game high four RBI’s.
HLU 1, WPU 15
Resilience is a quality that WPU has prided itself on all season. They showed it once again as they came back to win game two in dominating fashion on the mound and at the plate.
Nick Bruns (Sr., Frankfort, Ill., Sports Management) toed the slab for William Penn in game two. It was the Senior’s first start of the season and he responded by going five strong innings, allowing only one run, and striking out four en route to his first win of the season.
Cory Vollmer (Fr., Kaufman, Texas, Secondary Education) and Trent Barnett (Sr., Eddyville, Iowa, Accounting) both pitched a scoreless inning to shut the door.
The Statesmen once again came out strong as they plated three runs in the bottom of the first, highlighted by a perfectly executed double steal by Garcia and Romero. Garcia scored from third and Romero advanced to second on the play.
WPU tacked on a pair in the bottom of the second on a line drive two-run home run for Jimmy Blake (Sr., Seffner, Fla., Sports Management) but it was the fifth inning that really broke it open.
Seven runs came across in the fifth frame on seven hits. Speas led off the inning with a double and was brought around to score with a single off the bat of Reisbeck. Jaylan Jones (Fr., Ottumwa, Iowa, Sociology) got into the mix with a bases loaded single, scoring Reisbeck. Blake added to his big day with a sacrifice fly in the inning and Zach Edgar (Jr., Elgin, Ill., Business Management) came off the bench to add a two-run double to right center field and the rout was on the home team walked away with the 15-1 victory.
Edgar collected three hits including a pair of doubles, a triple and four RBI’s. Speas, Ball and Blake all managed multi-hit efforts as Blake accounted for three RBI’s and a pair of runs scored.
Next Up: The Statesmen will hit the road for the first time in a couple of weeks as they travel to Lamoni, Iowa to take on Graceland with first pitch scheduled for 1 pm.
