Statesmen Take Two from Bobcats in Dramatic Fashion
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Oskaloosa—William Penn Baseball hosted a pair of games with Peru State on Saturday.
The Statesmen (24-6, 10-3 Heart) faced off against the Bobcats (13-15, 10-5 Heart) with major Heart of America Athletic Conference implications on the line. WPU picked up a huge pair of wins over the visiting Peru State by the scores of 8-1 and 11-9.
WPU 8, PSC 1
Tanner Bedier (Fr., Bondurant, Iowa, Business Management) had his fingerprints all over this one as the freshman started the game on the bump and was excellent. He went the distance, striking out five over his seven innings of work while surrendering only one earned run and scattering five hits. Bedier not only got it done on the mound but was highly successful at the plate going 1-4 with three RBI’s in the victory.
The game was scoreless until the bottom of the third when Boston Romero (Sr., Fairfield, Calif., Sociology) scored on an error on the batted ball by Nathan Ball (Sr., Moses Lake, Wash., Psychology). Romero got the inning started with a leadoff double to right center field. On the error, Ball was able to advance to second base and promptly stole third on the next pitch. Bedier grounded out to second to score Ball.
It was the following inning, the bottom of the fourth, that the Statesmen were able to break it open. The navy and gold put up six runs in the frame highlighted by a two-RBI single by Bedier, scoring Romero and Ball.
The eight runs were all William Penn needed to grab an 8-1 victory in game one.
Seven hitters logged a hit in the ballgame. Romero and Seth Reisbeck finished with multi-hit games, each going 2-3 each. Blaze Speas (Sr., O’Fallon, Mo., Wellness and Recreation), Jarrett Hunt (Jr., Logan, Utah, Digital Communication) and Romero all finished with an RBI.
WPU 11, PSC 9
Alec Myers (Jr., Casper, Wyo., Biology) continued his strong opening campaign in a Statesmen uniform as he was called on to start game two of the doubleheader. The Wyoming native was as advertised going six strong innings, allowing only two earned runs and striking out six.
William Penn didn’t waste any time getting the scoring started in this one. They put up five runs in the bottom half of the first. Bedier kept his hot day going, getting the scoring started with a long double off the left field fence, scoring Adrian Garcia (Jr., Ontario, California, Mechanical Engineering). Reisbeck added an RBI single later in the inning to extend the lead to 2-0 a couple of batter later. Dominic Bravo capped the scoring in the inning with a sacrifice fly that scored both Reisbeck and Romero.
WPU added three more in the fourth to push its lead to 8-1. Bedier’s number was called once again. Following a Ball walk and a Garcia sacrifice bunt, Bedier doubled once again, scoring ball. Later in the inning, Reisbeck drew a bases-loaded walk and Romero brought home a run via a sacrifice fly.
After giving up a run in the top of the fifth, Bravo stepped to the plate and launched a towering blast over the left field fence to extend the lead for the Statesmen 9-2. The homer was Bravo’s second on the season.
Unfortunately, William Penn had a tough time keeping the Bobcats down as they came roaring back, scoring seven unanswered runs and eventually tying the game up in the top of the ninth.
Fortunately, the Statesmen were the home team in this one and had the last chance to hit in the ninth. Garcia led off the inning with a booming double down the left field line to give his team a runner in scoring position to set the table. Bedier followed in line putting down a sacrifice but to advance Garcia to third base, bringing up Speas.
On a 1-2 count, Speas unloaded on hanging slider that carried just beyond the right field fence for the walk-off home run and to give the navy and gold the North Division lead in the Heart of America Athletic Conference. The round-tripper was his fourth on the season.
Zach Edgar (So., Elgin, Ill., Business Management) was credited with the win in relief after throwing 2.1 innings.
“Both wins were huge.” Head Coach Mike Laird said. “The boys did a good job finishing the second game after surrendering a big lead. Great effort by the guys!”
Next Up: William Penn will conclude the series with Peru State on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
