Statesmen Leave Too Many on Base in 2-0 Senior Day Loss

William Penn University Athletics

Oskaloosa–The William Penn baseball team has fallen into a situation where a sweep of this weekend’s games is basically required after coming up just short against league-leading St. Ambrose in Midwest Collegiate Conference play Tuesday.

The Statesmen (17-24, 10-11 MCC) lost 2-0 and are now one game back of both Waldorf and Iowa Wesleyan (both at 11-10) entering their three-game set against Clarke this weekend. The navy and gold hold the tiebreaker over both the Warriors and Tigers, but will need some help to qualify for next week’s five-team MCC Tournament.

William Penn did not have many issues getting runners on base, including tying the Fighting Bees (23-22, 15-6 MCC) in hits at seven. Unfortunately, the hosts failed to bring them in, leaving 12 on the pads for the game (twice having the bases loaded).

St. Ambrose left six on base as well, but broke through with the only two runs in the fourth on a two-run home run by Tyler Gilles. That was all the visitors needed to retain their lead at the top of the MCC.

Steve Enriquez (Sr., Castro Valley, Calif., Laney CC) was solid in 4 2/3 innings, but took the loss to fall to 0-2. Brad McGuire (Jr., Covina, Calif., Citrus CC), with three strikeouts in 3 1/3 frames, and Devin Lange (Sr., Tucson, Ariz., Paradise Valley CC), with one strikeout in the ninth, were strong out of the bullpen to keep the deficit at two runs.

A total of 12 individuals were recognized on Senior Day.

Next: William Penn closes out its regular season by traveling to Peosta this weekend to face Clarke in MCC action. The teams first play Saturday at 6 p.m. for the nine-inning game and then meet up Sunday for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.