Navarro’s Bombs Lead Statesmen to Split Against Mustangs
William Penn University Athletics
Oskaloosa–A power display by Jenny Navarro (Jr., Bellflower, Calif.) highlighted the William Penn softball team’s return to action Friday as it split a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader with Mount Mercy.
WPU (14-13, 2-6 Heart), which had not played in nine days, won the opener 11-3 in six innings, but dropped the nightcap 8-6 in eight innings.
Navarro erupted for six hits in the twinbill, including a pair of home runs in the first contest.
The Statesmen wasted no time in knocking off any possible rust that may have accumulated from their lengthy rain-induced break, scoring five times in the bottom of the first inning.
Emily Brown (Jr., Waverly, Iowa, Biology) brought in Chyanne Koko (Jr., Waianae, Hawaii, Physical Education) and Kodee Johnson (Sr., Stockton, Calif., General Mathematics) on a single and Navarro capped the frame with a three-run bomb that also plated Brown and Kacey Lutz (Jr., Lodi, Calif., Business Management). The home run was Navarro’s first of the season.
The hosts, who owned a 14-6 edge in hits, tacked on another run in the second when Koko’s double scored Johnson.
MMU (2-20, 1-9 Heart) cut the advantage in half with a three-run fourth inning, but the navy and gold took all of those runs back, nearly putting the game away in the fifth. Navarro yet again left the park, this time with a two-run shot, while Molly LaMotte (Sr., Enumclaw, Wash., Exercise Science) made it back-to-back roundtrippers as she rounded the pads with a solo home run–her first of 2017.
The Statesmen did finally wrap up the mercy-rule victory in the sixth when Navarro fittingly singled home the winning run. The junior was 3-for-4 with six RBIs and two runs scored. Her RBI tally is the most since 2015 (twice), while Navarro’s two-home run effort is the program’s first since May 4, 2014.
Koko, Johnson, and Brown all added two hits each, while Koko and Brown both also drove in two runs. Michelle Castro (Fr., Acampo, Calif., Business Management) touched home plate on a pair of occasions.
Brittany Ensley (Fr., Harrisburg, Ore., Exercise Science) suffered just the one bad frame, finishing with a complete-game win. She managed one strikeout against two walks in the triumph.
The Mustangs put up the initial tallies in the second matchup with three in the second inning. William Penn responded quickly, though, as Navarro’s single brought home Brown to make it 3-1.
MMU pushed the margin to 4-1, but the Statesmen rallied with two in the fourth on a two-run homer by Taylor Vernon (Jr., Tracy, Calif., Ripon HS). She now has two long balls this spring.
The sides exchanged one run apiece in the sixth as Vernon’s one-bagger was enough to get Koko across. With the score 5-4 entering the final inning of regulation, the fireworks were nowhere close to their finale.
The Mustangs added an insurance run in the top of the seventh, but WPU proved it was still very much alive by putting its first three batters on base with a stretch of single-double-single to pull within one at 6-5. Castro later rounded the bases to knot the score at 6-6. Unfortunately, with the winning run on second and just one out, the Statesmen failed to complete the rally.
A trio of errors plagued the navy and gold in the nightcap, but no inning was as tarnished as the eighth as the visitors went back on top with two unearned runs. Only three of MMU’s eight runs were earned. William Penn had nothing left in the proverbial tank and went down in order in the bottom half to end the double dip.
Navarro finished 3-for-4, while Castro and Vernon (three RBIs) were both 2-for-4. Brown scored twice as well. WPU won the hits battle, 12-10.
Katie Springer (So., Riverside, Iowa, Undecided) produced three strikeouts (two walks) in six innings as the starter, while Tabitha Scott (So., Placentia, Calif., Psychology) tossed two relief innings in her 2017 pitching debut.
