Statesmen Drop Pair at Baker
by Wade Steinlage
Statesmen Drop Pair at Baker
Baldwin City, Kan.— William Penn (11-17, 5-7 Heart) faced off against Baker (22-5, 11-3 Heart) in a Heart of America doubleheader on Sunday.
Baker 12, WPU 0
The Statesmen struggled across the board in game one as the bats were only able to produce two hits and the pitching staff could not slow down the Wildcats offense.
Sonia Reddy (SO/Tracy, Calif.) had the lone extra base hit for the Statesmen as the Junior led off the top of the first inning with a double to centerfield. Hayley Freestone (JR/Las Vegas, Nev.) also was able to reach base on a single to left in the top of the third.
William Penn was outhit by Baker 9-2.
Baker 4, WPU 3
The Statesmen took the Wildcats down to the wire in game two but unfortunately were unable to pull out the win.
Katie Springer (JR/Riverside, Iowa) started in the circle for William Penn. The junior gave a terrific outing going 6.2 innings while allowing three earned runs and striking out five Wildcats.
After going down by two runs in the bottom of the first, the Statesmen would get on the board in the third inning when Tess Cheetham (JR/Oceanside, Calif.) hit a sacrifice fly to left, scoring Reddy. Reddy led off the inning with a double and would later advance to third on a Wildcats error.
The Statesmen would surrender another run in the bottom of the fourth but would respond in the top of the fifth by putting up two runs and tying the game at three.
Reddy would take a walk to lead off the inning then proceeded to steal second base. Delaney Bice would come to bat and respond by hitting an RBI double cutting the lead to one. Emily Marcus (SO/Bloomfield, Colo.) then came into the game to pinch run for Bice. Chyanne Koko (SR/Waianae, Hawaii) came up to the plate and singled to center scoring Marcus which would tie the game at three.
The game would remain tied until the bottom of the seventh when the Wildcats scored a run giving them the walk-off win.
Reddy and Koko would each finish the game with two hits, while Freestone, Bice, and Roxanna Jensen each tallied a hit for the Statesmen.
Next Up: William Penn will host Culver-Stockton on Wednesday, March 28th for a two game set beginning at 4 P.M.