Game One Rally Secures Split Against Wildcats
William Penn University Athletics
Oskaloosa–The William Penn baseball team earned a doubleheader split Sunday to lock up a series win over Culver-Stockton in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.
The Statesmen (17-10, 8-6 Heart) won the opener 5-4 and fell in the nightcap 8-1.
The home team took the early lead in the first contest as Robert Phiakeo (Sr., San Diego, Calif., Business Management) singled home Anthony York (Jr., Chula Vista, Calif., Physical Education) in the initial inning.
Culver-Stockton (14-20, 8-6 Heart) answered with three runs in the third, but WPU climbed back in with one run in the bottom half and another in the fifth. In the third, a single by Javier Gonzalez (Jr., Lakeside, Calif., Physical Education) brought in Colton Johnson (Jr., Westminster, Calif., Physical Education), while York scored again on a Phiakeo hit (double) two innings later.
The Wildcats reclaimed the advantage in the sixth with one run, but the back-and-forth game went in favor of WPU in the end as Johnson singled in both the tying and eventual winning runs in the bottom half.
William Penn owned a 13-7 edge in hits with York, Phiakeo, Gonzalez, Dominik Sawyer (Jr., Chula Vista, Calif., Psychology and Human Services), and William Vazquez (Jr., North Hollywood, Calif., General Accounting) all posting two base knocks each.
Dylan McDonald (Jr., Chula Vista, Calif., Industrial Technology) improved to 6-1, striking out five against one walk; only three of the runs he allowed were earned.
After taking the first three games of the weekend, the Statesmen ran out of gas in Sunday’s nightcap. William Penn matched C-SC with a run in the first frame, but the game’s final seven runs belonged to the visitors as they tallied a 10-6 edge in hits. The Wildcats also took advantage of WPU’s three errors. Phiakeo recorded two hits in the loss.
Brian Harrity (Castle Rock, Colo., Software Engineering) took the loss in three tough frames, while Dakota Herman (Woodland Park, Colo., Biology) was unable to keep the battle any closer in his three-inning relief appearance.
Trent Barnett (Fr., Eddyville, Iowa, Accounting) tossed a scoreless seventh inning.
Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa next weekend for a four-game Heart set against Central Methodist. Saturday’s doubleheader begins at 1 p.m., while Sunday’s twinbill starts at noon.
