Big Offense Leads Lady Statesmen to 4-0 Start on Spring Break
William Penn Women's Athletics
Tucson, Ariz.–The Penn softball team expected to score a lot of runs this season, but its hot start on spring break has probably still come as a bit of a surprise as the Lady Statesmen won their first four games Sunday and Monday.
#30 Penn (5-2) opened the week Sunday by pounding Rochester Tech (N.Y.) 8-0 and Sul Ross State (Texas) 14-0, both in five innings. The squad then swept SUNY-Canton (N.Y.) Monday, 16-10 and 15-1 (5 innings). In just 22 frames, the Lady Statesmen outscored their foes 53-11.
Penn 8, Rochester Tech 0
Playing in unseasonably cold weather on Sunday, the Lady Statesmen had some troubles getting warmed up, putting up goose eggs in the first three frames.
Fortunately, the defense was strong in keeping the game scoreless until the bottom of the fourth when Penn exploded for all eight of its runs.
Khyia Lewis (Jr., Ottumwa, Ottumwa HS) highlighted the inning with a three-run home run, while Ashley Nieto (Jr., Cement City, Mich., Jackson CC) brought in three runs as well with a bases-clearing triple. The roundtripper was Lewis’ first of the year as well as the first for Penn.
Nieto led her team with a 2-for-3, three-RBI, and two-run performance, while Lewis matched her with three RBIs of her own. The Lady Statesmen were actually outhit 5-4, the only time that would happen in their initial four contests in Arizona.
Jennifer Whitehead (Fr., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) had a productive outing to collect her first collegiate win and shutout. The freshman allowed five hits in five innings, while striking out four batters.
Penn 14, Sul Ross State 0
All aspects of the game were clicking in Sunday’s nightcap as Penn held a 15-2 advantage in hits and again did not commit an error. Ten different players recorded a base knock in the victory.
Big innings were again the story with the Lady Statesmen scoring six in the second and eight more in the fourth. Penn took advantage of four SRSU errors in the second, while Brianne Rowley (Jr., Hood River, Ore., Blue Mountain CC) cleared the fence, a two-run shot, for her first homer as a Lady Statesmen.
Whitney Reber (Jr., Ottumwa, Ottumwa HS) topped the fourth with a two-run single and four others added run-scoring hits as well.
Brittni Reyes (Jr., Vacaville, Calif., Solano CC) paced the offensive onslaught with a 3-for-3 showing. Nieto, Cassie Holt (Jr., Twin Lakes, Wis., Muskego HS), and Ashley Stream (Jr., Chariton, Chariton HS) also tallied two hits each. Stream matched Reber and Rowley with two RBIs apiece and the trio of Holt, Reyes, and Andrea Rensberger (Sr., Sioux City, Sioux City North HS) all crossed home plate twice.
Amber Daly (Jr., Napa, Calif., Solano CC) was terrific in her navy and gold debut, giving up just two hits in the shutout. She tallied three strikeouts with two walks.
Penn 16, SUNY-Canton 10
A tough start yielded to another great offensive output in Penn’s opener versus SUNY-Canton. The Lady Statesmen and starting pitcher Jennifer Whitehead struggled in giving up eight runs in the first two innings to fall behind 8-5.
Whitehead then settled down, but the Penn offensive juggernaut kept pouring it on, finishing with a 17-12 edge in hits. Penn scored in all six frames, highlighted by four runs in both the first and four innings.
Stream, with a three-run bomb, and Christine Gamble (Jr., Pahrump, Nev., Pahrump Valley HS), with a solo shot, both left the diamond. It was Gamble’s first collegiate home run. Stream also added two doubles as did Holt and Rowley. The junior shortstop was 3-for-3 with five RBIs and three runs.
Rowley and Gamble were both 3-for-4, while Nieto, Holt, Rensberger, and Molly Miller (So., Kalona, Mid-Prairie HS) all posted two base knocks.
Gamble put on a power display with four RBIs and Holt brought two of her teammates home. Nieto and Rowley joined Stream in the three-run club, while Miller, Gamble, and Brittany Labbe (So., Northridge, Calif., Chaminade HS) all rounded the bases on two occasions.
Whitehead (2-1) was not dominant until the latter parts of the game, allowing ten runs (four earned) on 12 hits. She struck out a season-best ten without a walk. Following the second frame, the freshman only gave up two runs on six hits against a program that was one of the NAIA’s 2010 leaders in hits and runs per game and batting average.
Penn 15, SUNY-Canton 1
The Roos failed to slow down the Lady Statesmen Express in the second game, allowing another 14 hits (just four for SUNY-Canton).
Penn had big frames in the fourth and fifth with five on the board in each. Rowley launched a three-run home run and Stream went deep with a two-run hit. Rowley posted two two-baggers as well, while Daly contributed a double and a triple in addition to pitching.
Rowley finished the contest 3-for-3 with four RBIs and three runs, while Reyes, Stream, and Daly all connected on two hits. Reyes and Daly tallied two RBIs and two runs and Stream and Lewis also recorded two RBIs. Nieto came all the way around twice in the win.
The Roos collected just one run (earned) on four hits against Daly (2-0). The junior posted seven Ks and no walks.
“We hit the ball really well our first two days in Arizona,” Lady Statesmen Head Coach Mike Christner said. “We need to clean up a few things defensively and we will be fine. SUNY-Canton can really hit the ball so they were a bit of a surprise, but we battled back in that first game and played well after the second inning.”
Next: Penn plays three games Tuesday, taking on fellow Iowa program Wartburg at 11 a.m. The squad then meets St. John Fisher (N.Y.) at 1 p.m. and Rochester Tech at 3 p.m. All times are Mountain Standard Time.
