Hot Bats Carry Statesmen to Season-Opening Sweep of Harris-Stowe State
St. Louis, Mo.—Statesmen baseball is back and ready to build off its terrific season a year ago and they kicked off their 2020 campaign with a three-game set with Harris-Stowe University.
WPU picked up where they left off as they swept the Hornets by the scores of 11-7, 16-8, and 5-1. The offense was a force as they hit .298 with 33 hits and 11 extra-base hits.
WPU 11, HSSU 7
In game one, it took the offense a couple of innings to shake off some rust but they got on the board in the fifth inning. With one out in the fifth, Jake Vernon (Sr., Elkhart, Ind., Interdisciplinary Studies) hit a double to left-center field and was followed up by a single off the bat of Jameson Hart (Jr., Sarnia, Ontario, Sports Management) that moved pinch runner Jackson McLain (So., Farmington, Minn., Business Management) to third. Dominic Bravo (Sr., Downey, Calif., Digital Communication) grounded a ball to short that scored McLain to the tie the game up at 1-1. Snaider Torrealba (Sr., Barquisimeto, Ven., Sports Management) gave the Statesmen the lead in the next at-bat by doubling to center field, scoring Hart to make the score 2-1.
William Penn added two more in the sixth that included RBI singles for Tanner Bedier (So., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) and Vernon. The Hornets got one back in the bottom of the seventh to cut the Statesmen lead to 4-2. Bedier doubled home Alex Fisher (Jr., Sydney, Aus., Biology) in the eighth to extend the lead to 5-2. WPU appeared to be cruising along before the HSSU struck back in the bottom of the eighth, plating four runs in and taking the lead 6-5.
Suddenly, the Statesmen were down to their final three outs. Like many times in 2019, the navy and gold refused to give in as they tied it up 6-6 courtesy of a Torrealba single that scored Hart. Stetson Denning (So., Queen Creek, Ariz., Sports Management) retired the Hornets in order in the bottom of the ninth to move the game into extra innings.
Both of the offenses went silent in extras until William Penn broke through in the 15th. Hart produced the big blow as he launched a grand slam to center field to put the squad up 11-6. The Hornets scratched for a run in the bottom of the inning but ran out of steam as Denning shut the door to give William Penn its first win of the season.
Chase Stratton (Sr., Clearfield, Utah, Sports Management) got the start of the bump and was solid going five innings, allowing no earned runs and striking out three. Denning finished the final 7 2/3 innings allowing two earned runs and striking out eight.
Fisher, Bedier, Hart and Torrealba all logged three hits while Vernon had a pair to his credit.
WPU 16, HSSU 8
Game two of the series featured slightly less of the dramatics as the offense was able to keep the foot on the gas as they took a lead in the fourth and never looked back. The offense managed to score in all seven innings. A pair of three-run home runs sparked the bats as Adrian Garcia (Sr., Ontario, Calif., Mechanical Engineering) went deep in the fifth and Jarrett Hunt (Sr., Logan, Utah, Digital Communication) left the yard in the sixth. Both home runs were the firsts in the Statesmen careers for the seniors.
Hunt led the hot bats as he collected four hits and six RBI’s while Bedier added three hits and three RBI’s and Bravo had a pair of hits of his own.
Tyler Gregory (Jr., Peoria, Illinois, Exercise Science) pitched valiantly out of the bullpen going five innings and surrendering only two earned runs and striking out six. Hart closed it out in the seventh, retiring the Hornets in order in his first outing on the bump.
WPU 5, HSSU 1
William Penn got on the board first as they plated a pair in the second inning as Hunt led off the inning with a double and later came around to score on a Bravo single to right. Bravo proceeded to score on an error later in the inning to put the Statesmen up 2-0. After the Hornets got a run back in the bottom of the inning, WPU came back in the third to score another couple of runs as Hart singled home Fisher and Bedier. Soren Graversen (Jr., Calgary, Alberta, Human Services) tacked one on for good measure in the fifth as he hit his first longball of his young Statesmen career over the right field fence.
The five runs were plenty of cushion as a pair of outstanding pitching performances courtesy of Bedier and Lionel Colon (Sr., Vieques, P.R., Business Management) kept HSSU at bay. Bedier, making his first start of 2020, lasted three innings, allowing one earned run on two hits while striking out three. Colon followed him up out of the bullpen, not allowing a run in a pair of innings.
Bedier (1-3), Graversen (1-2), Hunt (1-3), Hart (1-3), and Bravo (1-2) all logged a hit in the victory.
“The guys hung together to pull out the three wins in some tough conditions.” Head Coach Mike Laird said, “The offense finally caught fire on Saturday.”
Next Up: William Penn will to Point Lookout, Missouri to take on Ozarks on Friday with first pitch scheduled for 12 pm.
