Home Runs Help William Penn Split with Yellowjackets

William Penn University Athletics

William Penn University Athletics

by Wade Steinlage

Lamoni–The Statesmen softball team was shut out in the opener, but powered itself to a victory in the nightcap as it split a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader with Graceland Saturday.

William Penn (20-28, 11-17 Heart) lost the opener 2-0, but took the nightcap 8-4.

WPU loaded the bases in the first inning, but failed to bring anyone around.

Unfortunately, GU (23-18, 14-14 Heart) was able to get on the board in the third with both of its runs. The navy and gold put runners in scoring position in the second and fourth frames as well, but came up empty again.

The visitors, who outhit the Yellowjackets 7-6, were led by Reddy and Young with two hits apiece. Karlee-Rose Perry (Sr., Kaupo, Hawaii, General Biology) struck out three (one walk), allowing just one earned run in 4 1/3 innings. Kiya Harper (Jr., Decatur, Ill., Exercise Science) was also strong, permitting only one hit in 1 2/3 scoreless frames.

William Penn fell behind early in the nightcap as well as Graceland got three across in the bottom of the first. Katie Springer (Jr., Riverside, Iowa, Psychology and Human Services) settled in, though, and limited the home squad to just one run over the last six innings. The senior tallied six strikeouts with two walks in her winning performance.

Meanwhile, the offense was still stymied through the first three innings, but got things going in the fourth. The deficit was cut in half as Lexi Riccardi (Jr., Redwood City, Calif., Biology) cleared the left field fence with a two-run home run, her second roundtripper of 2019.

The Statesmen continued to utilize the long ball in the fifth. Sonia Reddy (Jr., Tracy, Calif., Exercise Science) tied the game with a two-run bomb (team-leading fourth of the year), while Harper and Hayley Freestone (Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management) also left the park with solo shots. Harper topped her crew with a 3-for-4 outing as the navy and gold held a 12-8 edge in base knocks. Harper now has three homers this season, while Freestone has two roundtrippers in 2019.

GU got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, but WPU pulled away in the sixth when Jasmine Gonzalez (Fr., Las Vegas, Nev., Kinesiology) singled home a pair of runs.

Freestone and Emily Brown (Sr., Waverly, Iowa, Biology) both managed two hits, while Reddy, Gonzalez, and Riccardi all tallied two RBIs. Freestone and Lexi Resa (So., Liberty, Mo., Biology) both touched home plate twice.

Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Tuesday to host Culver-Stockton in a Heart doubleheader at 4 p.m.

Posted by on Apr 21 2019. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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