Red-Hot Statesmen Cruise Past Missouri Valley
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Marshall, Mo.–William Penn entered Friday’s Heart of America Athletic Conference showdown with Missouri Valley winners of nine out of its last 10 ball games.
The Statesmen (31-7, 16-3 Heart) kept their winning ways going with a sweep over the Vikings (16-21, 9-12 Heart) by the scores of 10-6 and 20-6. With the pair of wins, the program has reached the 30-win plateau for the first time since the 2009 campaign.
WPU 10, MVC 6
Tanner Bedier (Fr., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) got the call on the bump for game one of the doubleheader. The freshman pitched well cruising through five innings of play, allowing only one earned run up until that point with his team leading 4-1. However, Bedier and the Statesmen ran into some trouble in the bottom of the sixth when the Vikings rallied to score five runs in the inning to pull ahead 6-4.
WPU has gained a reputation throughout the season of a team that continues to never give up and play until the last out is recorded. That was different in this one as they rallied in the top of the seventh to tie the ballgame at 6-6 with Cassian Castillo (Jr., San Leandro, Calif., Business Management) scoring on a wild pitch and Jimmy Blake (Sr., Seffner, Fla., Sports Management) drawing a bases loaded walk, scoring Boston Romero (Sr., Fairfield, Calif., Sociology).
The game headed to extra innings and in the top of the eighth inning, the navy and gold was able to put the game out of reach for good with a four-run inning. Zach Edgar (Jr., Elgin, Ill., Business Management) got the scoring started with a two-RBI single to left field that scored Blaze Speas (Sr., O’Fallon, Mo., Wellness and Recreation) and Jarrett Hunt (Jr., Logan, Utah, Digital Communications). After Romero reached via a walk, Nathan Ball (Sr., Moses Lake, Wash., Sociology) flied a ball to left fielder but was deep enough for the runner Seth Reisbeck (Sr., Meridian, Idaho, History/Government) to tag up and score from third base. Edgar later came around to score on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 10-6.
Stetson Denning (Fr., Queen Creek, Ariz., Sports Management) pithed the final three innings in relief, picking up the win while allowing only a single hit and no earned runs.
Bedier finished the game 2-5 with a RBI and Edgar went 2-4 with a pair of RBI’s.
WPU 20, MVC 6
To say that the William Penn bats were hot in the second game of the afternoon is an understatement. The navy and gold pounded the MVC by plating 20 runs.
Missouri Valley was able to get on the board first however, scratching across a pair in the bottom of the first inning.
WPU responded in the form of a solo home run off the bat of Dominic Bravo (Jr., Downey, Calif., Digital Communications) to cut the lead in half at 2-1. For Bravo, it was the junior’s third round-tripper of the season.
The score remained 2-1 in favor of the Vikings until William Penn exploded for 10 runs in the fifth inning. 13 batters stepped into the box in the inning. Bedier reached base twice in the inning capped off by a three-run home run that snuck just inside the right field foul pole to be his squad up 11-2.
The visiting Statesmen were far from done at the plate as they followed up their impressive fifth with nine more runs in the sixth. Once again, they hit around the lineup sending up 14 hitters to the plate. Bravo, Speas, and Edgar all produced RBI singles in the frame. The 20 runs is the second highest offensive output for the navy and gold this season.
Lionel Colon (Jr., Vieques, P.R., Business Management) got the win on the mound as he improved to 6-0 in his first season as a Statesmen. The junior went the distance and allowed six runs.
Eight WPU players tallied multi-hit games led by the efforts of Blake who finished 4-5 with a RBI and three runs scored while Bedier was 2-4 with four RBI’s. Reisbeck also concluded his nice day at the plate with a pair of hits and three RBI’s.
Next Up: William Penn will host Central Methodist for senior day on Saturday with first pitch scheduled for 1 pm.
