Statesmen Split with Vikings on Senior Day
Oskaloosa, Iowa — The Statesmen baseball team split its senior day doubleheader against rival Grand View on Saturday.
William Penn (19-20, 8-10) fell in game one by a score of 8-7 but turned it around to take game two 3-1.
GVU 8 – WPU 7
The Vikings (20-15, 13-10) struck first with two runs to open the game.
The Statesmen responded in the second half of the frame with six hits in a row, with Abraham Arroyo (Grad., Camuy, P.R., Master’s of Sports Management) hitting the first RBI ono a single that scored Shane Mailloux (So., Santee, Calif., Business Management). Aiden North (Jr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Industrial Technology) then had an RBI-single of his own to score Arroyo and Shane Mailloux (So., Santee, Calif., Business Management). Sawyer Hardman (Jr., American Fork, Utah, Kinesiology finished the inning’s scoring with another RBI-single that sent Keoni Young (Sr., Las Vegas, Nev., Exercise Science) home.
The Vikings grabbed a run in the top of the second inning to cut the William Penn lead t 4-3.
It took until the top of the fifth inning for either squad to score again, but a two-run homer from Grand View gave them a slim 5-4 lead. The Vikings scored three more in the top of the sixth inning to extend its lead.
William Penn scored another run when Keoni hit an RBI double down the left field line and McGwire Jephson (Jr., Rigby, Idaho, Business Management) scored an unearned run.
After holding the Vikings to no runs in the seventh inning, the Statesmen started to rally as Jephson hit a 2-RBI double to right field for Andres Pineda (Sr., Cartagena, Colombia, Business Management) to score an unearned run, and Hardman followed behind.
A strike-out looking ended the contest as the rally came up short.
Hardman led the navy and gold, going 3-for-3 from the plate, with an RBI and a run. Jephson, Arroyo, and Young each had two hits, while Jephson scored two runs. Mailloux earned two walks in the loss.
WPU 3 – GVU 1
The nightcap was a pitching battle that saw neither pitcher allow a run until Hardman hit a solo homer to open the second frame. Pineda followed the scoring with an RBI single and scored Jagger Mitchell (Sr., Rock Springs, Wyo., Business Management). In the next at-bat Jephson hit an RBI single and Logan Bialek (Jr., South Elgin, Ill., Exercise Science) came home.
Erik Mejia Jr. (So., Las Vegas, Nev., Exercise Science) then did well to hold off the Vikings lineup, going five innings and delivering seven strikeouts, only giving up one unearned run in the sixth inning after being relieved by Ethan Peters (Jr., Hortonville, Wis., Sports Management) who shut down the Vikings rally attempt and earned the save.
Hardman had a run, hit, and RBI. Jephson and Pineda both delivered hit and an RBI, while Mitchell and Bialek each had a run and a hit.
Mejia Jr. earned the win for his work on the mound.
Next Up: The Statesmen stay in Oskaloosa to take on the Grand View Vikings on Sunday, with the first half of the doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. in its final homestand of the season.
