Statesmen Split First Doubleheader with Grand View
Des Moines, Iowa–The William Penn baseball team opened up a four-game series against the Grand View Vikings with a split of a doubleheader on Saturday. The Statesmen won the opening contest 3-1 before dropping the nightcap 4-9.
WPU 3, GVU 1
The navy and gold managed to get two runners into scoring position with two outs in the first, but were not able to cash in. On the other side of the ball, starting pitcher Nick George (So., Sarnia, Ontario) kept the hosts off the board by stranding a leadoff double, thanks to a pair of strikeouts.
Jameson Hart (Sr., Sarnia, Ontario, Sports Management) led off the second with a walk, then advanced to third on a double by Alonzo Zuniga (Fr., Covina, Calif., Psychology and Sociology). Carson Hauk (So., Plainview, Texas, Business Management) made it three straight batters to reach base, as he singled in Hart and courtesy runner Jackson McLain to give WPU a 2-0 lead.
The Vikings managed to get one of those runs back in the home half of the second, but that was all George allowed. He allowed only three baserunners through the rest of his six innings on the mound, and only one of them made it past first base. Back-to-back doubles from Hart and Zuniga pushed across another run home in the sixth, giving Stetson Denning (Jr., Queens Creek, Ariz., Sports Management) a two-run cushion to convert the save in the seventh. The hosts managed to get the tying run on second with only one out, but Denning was able to work himself out of trouble, finishing off the game with a strikeout.
George earned the win after six brilliant innings, allowing just three hits and a walk. Zuniga and Hauk each had multi-hit performances, while Tanner Bedier (Jr., Bondurant, Iowa, Industrial Technology) reached twice via walk.
WPU 4, GVU 9
Three hits in the first inning led to an early William Penn lead once again, but they were only able to push across one run on a Nathan Jessell (Fr., Napa, Calif.)groundout, and the Vikings evened the score in the home half of the inning.
After the hosts took a one-run lead in the second, Bedier got into one in the third inning to put the Statesmen on top with his third home run of the year. Unfortunately, Grand View retook the lead with three runs in the third, then broke the game open with four more in the fourth. The Statesmen managed two runs in the sixth, but could not overcome the big deficit and settled for a split on the day.
Ty Harter (So., Galesburg, Ill.) was given the loss after allowing five runs (three earned) in 2.1 innings. Bret Whiffen (So., Green Bay, Wis., Exercise Science) allowed four earned runs in 1.2 innings, and Camden Anderson (Fr., Galesburg, Ill., Sports Management) closed out the game with two scoreless frames.
What’s Next: Due to impending inclement weather, the series will be concluded on Monday in Des Moines instead of Sunday. Monday’s doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 1 PM.
