Statesmen Once Again Split with Pirates
Oskaloosa, Iowa — The Statesmen baseball team split its second doubleheader matchup of the season against the Park Pirates on Tuesday.
William Penn (18-19, 8-10) took game one by a score of 8-3 and fell in game two 12-11.
WPU 8 – Park 3
The Pirates () struck first with two runs to open the game.
The Statesmen responded in the second hand of the frame when McGwire Jephson (Jr., Rigby, Idaho, Business Management) hit a leadoff solo homer to right center field. Keoni Young (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev., Exercise Science) followed with a dinger of his own over the left wall to tie the game at two apiece.
Park hit a solo home run in the top of the second to take its final lead of the contest.
In the bottom of the second inning, Shane Mailloux (So., Santee, Calif., Business Management) and Abraham Arroyo (Grad., Camuy, P.R., Master’s of Sports Management) each hit an RBI as Andres Pineda (Sr., Cartagena, Colombia, Business Management) and Jephson scored runs.
Sawyer Hardman (Jr., American Fork, Utah, Kinesiology) kept the scoring going with William Penn’s third home run of the game in the bottom of the third inning to score another two runs and lead 6-3.
The final two runs came across for the Statesmen in the bottom of the sixth inning when Aiden North (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Industrial Technology) hit a two-RBI double to send Young and Arroyo home.
Arroyo, Young, and North each had two hits, while Jephson and Young had two runs. North and Hardman led the squad with two RBIs and Leland Riley II (Sr., Victorville, Calif., Kinesiology) worked three walks.
Connor Gaddis (Fr., Kansas City, Mo., Exercise Science) earned the win with six innings of work and threw seven strikeouts.
Park 12 – WPU 11
The nightcap started quickly when the Pirates scored a solo home run to score in the first frame.
William Penn responded with a couple runs in the bottom half of the inning when Young and North each hit an RBI, scoring Young and Arroyo.
Park responded with another run to tie the game at two apiece.
The bats exploded for William Penn in the next bottom half of the inning, scoring five runs, finished off by North hitting a single to shortstop to allow Young to score an unearned run, as well as Arroyo making it home.
William Penn kept the scoring going in the bottom of the third when scored four run, highlighted by a two-run shot to left center by Young that put William Penn up 11-2.
Sadly, the defense could not hold off the Pirates as they stormed back to take a 12-11 lead by the end of the fifth inning.
The navy and gold could not muster any more runs before falling to Park.
Young led the team with three runs on three hits and four RBIs. Jephson and Arroyo each had two runs, while they, as well as North had two hits. Jephson and North each had two RBIs. Logan Bialek (Jr., South Elgin, Ill., Exercise Science) also earned two walks.
Next Up: The Statesmen stay in Oskaloosa to take on the Grand View Vikings on Saturday, with the first half of the doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
