William Penn Athletics News–March 29
William Penn University Athletics
WPU Finally Wins Tourney Crown
Maryville, Mo.–The proverbial monkey has been officially removed as the Statesmen women’s golf team took home gold at the Graceland Invitational Friday and Saturday.
#23 William Penn placed first out of 14 teams with a two-day tally of 667 (338-329) at the par-72 Mozingo Golf Course. Ashford was a distant second, 22 strokes off the lead. The navy and gold had placed second in each of its first seven events.
Demi Coertze (So., Johannesburg, South Africa, Digital Communication) led the way as the individual medalist with a 160 (77-83), five shots ahead of Baker’s Lindsey Mateer. A total of 80 athletes were in the field. It is the second tournament victory for a Statesmen linkster this year.
“Demi was by far the best player on the course this weekend, especially on day one,” Head Coach Nik Rule said. “We have worked hard on her mental game and her mind is in a very good place right now.”
Maggie Yang (Jr., Chino, Calif., Business Management) was next, tying for fifth at 169 (87-82). Jing Yang (Fr., Woodland Hills, Calif., Biology), in seventh at 170 (91-79), and Courtney Cunningham (Fr., Muskogee, Okla., Computer Science), in a tie for eighth at 171 (83-88), were also in the top ten. The trio joined Coertze on the all-tournament team.
Alexandria Eckenrod (Jr., Mason City, Iowa, Elementary Education) carded a two-day score of 177 (92-85) to place 16th.
“We have played some solid golf in 2013-14 and it was nice to get a win under our belt,” Rule said. “We certainly did not play our best but we grinded, stayed positive, and outlasted 13 other teams. The course was very challenging and was a nice test early in the spring.”
“This was basically the HAAC Conference Tournament Preview, so we were able to size ourselves up for the first time with other schools in our future conference, which provided an extra element of excitement.”
Next: William Penn returns home Tuesday to host the Statesmen Shootout at Edmundson Golf Course.
Statesmen Take Pair from Judson
Oskaloosa–A pair of powerful pitching performances lifted the William Penn softball team to a sweep of Judson (Ill.) in non-conference play Saturday.
The Statesmen (14-7) won by scores of 8-0 (6 innings) and 6-2.
Sydney Edwards (Jr., Galesburg, Ill., Psychology & Biology) put the hosts up 1-0 in the first inning of game one when she scored on a single by Steviee Grove Sr., Runnells, Iowa, History/Government).
Edwards and Jorden Steele (Jr., Tacoma, Wash., Physical Education) then reached base in the second and were driven home on a bomb by Brittanee Grove (Jr., Runnells, Iowa, Elementary Education) that landed well onto the practice football field beyond the left-center fence. She now leads WPU with seven roundtrippers.
The four-run edge grew to five in the third frame when Bri Zerley (Jr., Monroe, Iowa, Biology) was singled home by Steele.
Brittanee Grove brought in Edwards with a fourth-inning triple, while sister Steviee wrapped up the victory in the sixth frame with a double that plated Jessica Christensen (So., Marysville, Wash., Sociology) and pinchrunner BreeAnne Chism (Sr., Fullerton, Calif., Psychology).
Brittanee Grove finished 3-for-3 with four RBIs, while Steviee was 2-for-4 with three RBIs. Steele (2-for-2) and Edwards (2-for-3, 3 runs) also had impressive efforts. The Statesmen outhit the Eagles 12-1.
Brittanee Grove also worked in the pitcher’s circle and had by far her best outing of the season. In addition to permitting just one hit in her first shutout, she had four strikeouts against one walk as well. Only three Judson (4-15) players reached scoring position as Grove improved to 2-3.
Lunden Young (Jr., Lewiston, Idaho, Physical Education) was unfortunately not as successful as the starting pitcher of the nightcap, allowing two runs in only 2/3 of an inning. She was relieved by Jennifer Whitehead (Oskaloosa, Iowa, Biology) with the bases loaded. Whitehead proceeded to strike out the first batter she faced to end the threat and then dominated the visitors the rest of the way.
Her teammates started slowly at the plate by going down in order in the first, but got on the board in the second with a Steele single to bring in Christensen.
The deficit remained one into the fourth, but Gabrielle Braniff (Fr., Olympia, Wash., General Accounting) came off the bench and powered a solo shot over the center field fence to knot up the contest at 2-2. It was not only her first collegiate home run, but also her first base knock at WPU.
William Penn took the lead for good in the three-run fifth on Brittanee Grove’s single that scored Steele. Christensen, who brought in Malloree Grove, and Zerley, who recorded Brittanee Grove, also had RBI singles in the fifth.
The day’s final run was produced in the sixth when Steele came around on Edwards’ one-bagger.
Steele, who was again 2-for-2 (two runs), and Christensen (2-for-3) managed four of their squad’s nine hits. Whitehead (9-1) permitted only one Judson hit (the Eagles had three total), while striking out eight with two walks in 6 1/3 frames.
Next: William Penn remains at home Sunday to host Viterbo in a Midwest Collegiate Conference doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m.
Big Inning Leads to DH Split Against Viterbo
Oskaloosa–A ten-run frame helped the Statesmen baseball team to split a Midwest Collegiate Conference doubleheader versus Viterbo Saturday.
William Penn (14-8, 1-3 MCC) won the opener 12-4, but fell in the nightcap 2-1. The teams will wrap up their four-game weekend set Sunday with another double dip starting at noon.
The V-Hawks (12-10, 1-1 MCC) used patience at the plate to get on top in the first. Kyle Maldonado (Jr., Centerville, Iowa, Physical Education) struggled in the opening frame by walking four batters, but fortunately the junior got out of trouble by only giving up one run.
That was not the biggest story of the contest though. That came in the second inning when two Viterbo errors blew things wide open for the navy and gold. Courtesy of a walk, an error, and a hit-by-pitch, William Penn loaded the bases with just one out. The visitors then gift-wrapped a present for the Statesmen with another error to plate the first two runs.
The offense then exploded, including a two-run double by Cory DeRush (Jr., Grand Junction, Colo., Business Management) and a two-run single by Kyle Mauricio (Sr., Ardene Hills, Minn., Physical Education). In the end, 14 batters came to the plate in the inning as WPU put ten runs on the scoreboard.
The V-Hawks challenged several more times throughout the game, but only managed one run apiece in the fourth, fifth, and sixth frames. William Penn answered with one run in the third and another in the fifth.
The victors held a slight 8-7 margin in hits with Mauricio going 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. DeRush (two RBIs) and Patrick Roxbury (Jr., Canyon Country, Calif., Sociology) both had one base hit and walked twice, while pinchrunner Collin Schulz (Fr., Ottumwa, Iowa, Undecided), who was on the pads for Roxbury, rounded the bases twice. Sho Serrano (Jr., Lancaster, Calif., Physical Education) also scored twice, while Kenny Hall (Jr., Morgan Hill, Calif., Exercise Science) drove in two runs.
Maldonado improved to 3-0 by tossing four innings. He permitted three runs (all earned) on five hits, while striking out five and walking six.
Juvenal Terrazas (Jr., Sylmar, Calif., Physical Education) was more than productive in relief. Entering in the fifth inning, the junior only gave up one unearned run on two hits in three full innings. He had two strikeouts without a walk.
The nightcap provided the pitchers’ duel that fans expected as the sides combined for only nine hits (6-3 Viterbo). The V-Hawks scored once in both the first and second frames and held that 2-0 advantage until the sixth.
Fortunately, Viterbo’s defense committed three errors to help WPU to its first run of the contest in the sixth. Schulz then led off the seventh with a pinch-hit single and was moved into scoring position by a DeRush sacrifice bunt. The tying run unfortunately was stranded at second base to end the matchup.
Rafael Villafana (Sr., Sylmar, Calif., Communications) worked 6 2/3 innings, allowing only two runs (one earned) on six base knocks. He had three Ks and three BBs in falling to 1-2, while Matt Vasquez (Jr., Lancaster, Calif., Business Management) faced one batter.
Statesmen Improve on Saturday to Finish Seventh at Graceland
Maryville, Mo.–A solid second day helped the William Penn men’s golf team move up the standings at the Graceland Invitational Friday and Saturday.
William Penn was seventh out of 11 teams with a two-day score of 653 (334-319) at the par-72 Mozingo Golf Course. Baker (Kan.) held off AIB for the title by just one stroke with a tally of 613 (304-309).
Alex Zuzelski of BU won the medalist award with a three-over-par 147 (72-75).
Tyler Lallier (Jr., Algona, Iowa, Business Management) guided the navy and gold by tying for sixth out of 64 players with a 155 (82-73). The junior’s score on day two was second-best in the field. With Lallier’s help, the Statesmen had the fifth-lowest team score to jump two programs.
Brandon Dizon (Fr., San Leandro, Calif., Business Management) was next with a 160 (81-79) to tie for 22nd, while Byron Lindeque (Jr., Boksburg, South Africa, Public Accounting) tied for 37th at 168 (84-84).
Kyle Hashimoto (Fr., Acampo, Calif., Undecided) tallied a score of 170 (87-83) to tie for 43rd, while Ben Roberts (So., Albia, Iowa, Business Management) wrapped up his squad’s scoring by tying for 53rd at 178 (90-88).
Next: William Penn returns home Tuesday to host the Statesmen Shootout at Edmundson Golf Course.
