Big Comeback Gives Statesmen Split Against Vikings

William Penn University Athletics

by Wade Steinlage

Des Moines–William Penn traveled up to Des Moines to take on the rival Grand View Vikings in its final regular season series on Friday.

The Statesmen (32-10, 17-6 Heart) split the pair of ballgames with the Vikings (13-21, 10-12 Heart), winning the opener by the score of 4-3 and dropping the nightcap 6-3.

WPU 4, GVU 3

WPU turned to Lionel Colon (Jr., Vieques, P.R., Business Management) in game one. The Puerto Rico native went the distance (7 IP) allowing just three earned runs and striking out seven Vikings hitters.

Grand View had control of the game for a majority as they lead 3-0 until the seventh frame. William Penn charged back and scored four runs in that inning to take a 4-3 lead.

With one down in the seventh, Dominic Bravo (Jr., Downey, Calif., Digital Communications) doubled the other way to right-center field. Boston Romero (Sr., Fairfield, Calif., Sociology) followed with a single to right, bringing around Bravo and getting the Statesmen on the board. Romero proceeded to advance to third on an error before Tanner Bedier (Fr., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) singled him home to cut the lead to 3-2. Jarrett Hunt (Jr., Logan, Utah, Digital Communications) kept the rally alive with a single and advanced to second on a throw to put a pair of runners in scoring position. Down to their last out, Seth Reisbeck (Sr., Meridian, Id., History/Government) strolled to the plate and came through for the Statesmen. He singled to right field, scoring both Hunt and pinch runner Nick Worcester (Sr., Bloomingdale, Ill., Sports Management) to give the navy and gold the late lead, 4-3.

Colon shut down GVU in order in the bottom of the seventh to improve his record to 7-0 on the campaign.

Eight different Statesmen logged a hit. Romero had two knocks and Reisbeck led the way with two RBI’s.

WPU 3, GVU 6

Unfortunately, WPU would not go on to pick up the doubleheader sweep, falling in game two, 6-3.

Alec Myers (Jr., Casper, Wyo., Biology) was on the bump for William Penn in game two. Myers was geat through five innings only surrendering two runs to that point but ran into trouble in the sixth, surrendering three runs in the inning.

After going down 2-0 in the third, the Statesmen struck back in the fourth, plating a pair. Anthony Huggins (So., Davenport, Fla., Biology) logged a RBI groundout and Nathan Ball (Sr., Moses Lake, Wash., Sociology) scored on a Romero single to tie the game 2-2.

The Vikings scored four unanswered runs to take the lead 6-2 heading into the ninth. William Penn tried to mount a comeback in the ninth after a Romero walk and Adrian Garcia (Jr., Ontario, Calif., Mechanical Engineering) double, followed by a Bedier sacrifice fly but that was all the Statesmen could muster as they took the loss.

Reisbeck (2-4), Ball (2-4), and Romero (2-3) all posted multi-hit efforts in the letdown.

Next Up: William Penn will return home to host Grand View on Sunday in a make-up game rescheduled from Thursday. First pitch is scheduled 12 pm.