Statesmen Enter Win Column with Seventh-Inning Rally
Leavenworth, Kan.–The William Penn baseball team collected its first victory of the year in come-from-behind fashion as it split two non-conference games Saturday.
WPU (1-3) dropped the day’s first contest 5-1 to Dordt, but then rallied past host Saint Mary (Kan.) 2-1 in the nightcap.
The navy and gold offense was shut down against the Defenders. Despite being outhit just 8-6, the Statesmen only produced three base knocks through the first six frames as they trailed 5-0 entering the seventh.
DU scored twice in the first, once in the fifth, and then notched two more insurance runs in the sixth before William Penn finally got the bats to wake up.
In the seventh, the Statesmen recorded singles in three of their first four at-bats, including an RBI single by Blair Speas (Jr., O’Fallon, Mo., New Media) that brought in Leland Riley II (Jr., Victorville, Calif., Sports Management). Unfortunately, back-to-back outs quickly squashed any hopes of a miraculous comeback.
Speas was 2-for-3 at the dish, while Nick George (Sr., Sarina, Ontario, Sociology) battled for five innings on the mound. He struck out three and walked one as the starter.
WPU was also held down offensively by Saint Mary, recording only four hits. Fortunately, Keke Romero (So., Mesa, Ariz., Business Management) was excellent on the rubber and limited the Spires to just one run in six innings of work. He gave up three hits, struck out four, but also walked five.
Seven was again William Penn’s favorite number, beginning with a leadoff double by Hector Dominguez (So., Fontana, Calif., Exercise Science) in the top of the seventh. The Statesmen eventually added another runner as George was intentionally walked, but Logan Lieser (So., Blaine, Minn., Secondary Education), who was pinchrunning for Dominguez was thrown out at home.
An error fortunately kept the rally alive for Speas, who came up with the heroics yet again, driving a double to the left-center gap to score Marco Ayala (So., San Francisco, Calif., New Media) and Adrian Ayala (Fr.,. Omaha, Neb., Exercise Science). Speas finished with the go-ahead hit as well as a walk.
Bret Whiffen (Sr., Green Bay, Wis., Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) entered in the bottom of the seventh and closed it out with a perfect 1-2-3 inning for the save.
Abraham Arroyo (Jr., Camuy, P.R., Wellness and Recreation) matched Speas with a hit and a base on balls.
Next Up: William Penn travels to Joplin, Mo. next Saturday to play two non-conference games. The Statesmen will first meet William Woods at 11 a.m. and then take on Northwestern at 4 p.m.
