Statesmen Split on Final Day of Spring Break Trip
Tucson, Ariz.–The Statesmen softball team closed out its time in the Grand Canyon State with a split against two strong opponents Thursday.
WPU (7-7) fell to #19 Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 5-3, but wrapped up the day with a 5-4 win over Northwestern in eight innings. Northwestern is receiving votes nationally.
Olivet Nazarene 5, WPU 3
The Tigers pounced on the Statesmen from the get-go with three runs in the first inning. Still down three entering the bottom of the second, the navy and gold got one back as Carla La Rosa (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev., Business Management) singled in Charley Geguzis (So., Williamsburg, Iowa).
Unfortunately, ONU scored once in both the third and fourth frames to take a 5-1 advantage. WPU had one last fight in it, however, scoring twice in the bottom of the fourth as Jayde Tucker (Sr., Los Alamos, N.M., Sociology) drove in La Rosa and Nayely Martinez (So., Carson, Calif.) on a double.
The Statesmen offense drew a walk in both the fifth and sixth, but nothing came of it, and then went down in order in the seventh.
In a pitcher’s duel that witness only 11 hits (6-5 edge for ONU), Ashton Brown (So., Ottumwa, Iowa, Mechanical Engineering) was the most successful William Penn hurler. She tossed 3 2/3 innings out of the bullpen, walking three with one strikeout, while allowing just one hit.
WPU 5, Northwestern 4
While a comeback was not in the cards against the Tigers, the Statesmen had some late-inning tricks up their sleeves versus the Red Raiders.
WPU struck first with a run in each of the first two frames. A sacrifice fly by Allyson Stewart (Jr., Delta, B.C., Nursing) brought in Lexi Resa (Sr., Liberty, Mo., Biology) in the first, while Abby Wilson (Jr., Calgary, Alberta, Biology) singled to move La Rosa to third; La Rosa then advanced home on the same play courtesy of an outfield error for a 2-0 advantage.
Northwestern cut the margin in half in the fourth and then went on top 4-2 with a three-spot in the fifth.
With William Penn down to its final at-bats in the seventh, Kiana Young (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev., Exercise Science) started the rally by leaving the park with a solo home run. Still clinging to hope with two on and two outs, NWC’s second error of the game allowed Wilson to score from second base.
The Red Raiders threatened in the bottom half, but Bianca Castillo (Jr., Rio Rico, Ariz.) closed the door and extra innings ensued.
The international tiebreaker rule placed Stewart on second base to start the eighth. She advanced to third on a groundout and then touched home plate on a single by Martinez for a 5-4 lead.
Northwestern also started with a runner at second, but after a flyout, the Statesmen capped the win with a double play as Valeria Quiroga (Jr., Brownsville, Texas, Sociology) caught a liner and then tossed back to Martinez at second base to double off the runner.
Chelsey Huff (Fr., Douds, Iowa, Exercise Science) was a mixed bag of results through the first 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs on six hits, while striking out four and walking four. Castillo then entered in the sixth and was nearly perfect, throwing 2 1/3 innings of shutout ball (two hits) with two strikeouts.
“What a great week we had!” Head Coach Mike Christner said. “Everyone stepped up, every day a new person picked up the team and led us to victory. We had a great team effort all week long with no quit.”
Next Up: With Sunday’s games against Culver-Stockton postponed due to weather, WPU is next in action next Wednesday, traveling to Peru, Neb. to face Peru State in its Heart of America Athletic Conference opener. The doubleheader begins at 2 p.m.
