Rowley Leaves Park Three Times as Lady Statesmen Extend Streak
William Penn Women's Athletics
Forest City–Brianne Rowley (Sr., Hood River, Ore., Blue Mountain CC) is making trotting around all four bases a regular occurrence, doing so three more times Wednesday as the William Penn softball team swept Waldorf in a Midwest Collegiate Conference doubleheader.
The Lady Statesmen (23-11, 11-1 MCC) won by scores of 9-0 (5 innings) and 7-1. The program has now won a season-high eight straight.
Rowley put the visitors up with a solo shot, while KC Routos (Jr., Newcastle, Wash., Pierce CC) singled home Khyia Lewis (Sr., Ottumwa, Ottumwa HS) to make it 2-0 after one inning.
Ashley Kingery (Jr., Knoxville, Knoxville HS) put another run on the board in the second, while Rowley delivered another huge base knock an inning later. The senior again cleared the outfield fence with another solo homer in the third, pushing the lead to 4-0.
All of that was just a preview of the offensive fireworks the navy and gold had in store for the fourth. Lewis started the push by launching a three-run roundtripper (her ninth of the season) and Molly Miller (Jr., Kalona, Mid-Prairie HS) tallied two more runs with a single.
Rowley was 2-for-2 (also intentionally walked), while Lewis and Routos each finished 2-for-3.
It was the team’s fourth mercy-rule win in its last five contests. William Penn posted an 8-2 edge in hits, while Waldorf assisted the Lady Statesmen with five errors.
Jennifer Whitehead (So., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) struck out five and walked three to improve to 10-6.
A six-run second frame gave William Penn enough for the game two victory. Kingery slapped a two-run homer and Rowley followed it with a grand slam. For Kingery, it is her first of 2012, while Rowley now has a team-best 11.
One more run was tacked on in the third on a Kingery single. The Warriors (15-12, 2-6 MCC) finally scored their lone run of the day in the seventh.
Kingery was perfect in three at-bats and Rowley went 2-for-3. Their team outhit the home group 6-4. Both teams were a bit sloppy in the field with three errors apiece.
Nicole Danna (Jr., Boone, Iowa Central CC) struck out seven (no walks) in moving to 9-3.
Next: William Penn travels to Mount Pleasant this weekend to compete in the Iowa Wesleyan Sammons Classic. On Friday, the Lady Statesmen play Purdue-North Central (Ind.) at 11:45 a.m., St. Francis (Ill.) at 3:15 p.m., and Benedictine-Springfield (Ill.) at 5 p.m. On Saturday, William Penn meets Robert Morris (Ill.) at 12:30 p.m. and Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) at 2:15 p.m.
