William Penn Hits Well but Falls Twice Vs. Baker
Baldwin City, Kan.–The Statesmen baseball team put runners on the pads, but could not produce enough runs as it was swept by Baker in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Sunday.
WPU (9-14, 1-7 Heart) lost by scores of 8-5 and 10-3.
The visitors, who matched BU (11-15, 9-3 Heart) with eight hits each in the opener, started the day’s scoring in the first frame when Froymer Ortega (Jr., Tallahassee, Fla., Wellness and Recreation) singled in Zach Otten (Jr., Mapleton, Ill.). Aiden North (Fr., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Industrial Technology) then tacked on another single to plate Andres Pineda (So., Colombia, Business Management).
The Wildcats answered with two runs in the bottom half of the first, but the lead quickly returned to the navy and gold in the second as Hector Dominguez (So., Fontana, Calif., Exercise Science) cleared the left-center fence with a two-run home run that also brought in Blair Speas (Jr., O’Fallon, Mo., New Media).
An inning later, Nathan Jessell (Jr., Napa, Calif., Sociology) lifted a ball deep enough into right field for Ortega to tag up and score, extending the Statesmen advantage to 5-2.
Unfortunately, the home squad scored five runs in the bottom of the third and added another score in the sixth, while WPU was stymied in the final four frames.
Ortega finished 3-for-4, while Dominguez and North each recorded two base knocks.
Bret Whiffen (Sr., Green Bay, Wis., Entrepreneurship and Small Business Management) kept his crew in the game as he worked three strong relief innings, giving up just one run on two hits. The senior struck out one and walked one in the outing.
William Penn continued to find success at the plate with 10 hits in the nightcap, but the visiting squad struggled to bring those runners around with 10 left on base. Conversely, BU, despite recording nine base knocks, scored at least two runs in four separate innings.
WPU got on the scoreboard first with Otten coming around in the first.
Unfortunately, the Wildcats scored eight unanswered runs over the initial four innings before Marco Ayala (So., San Francisco, Calif., New Media) hit a roundtripper that also drove in Jessell.
The deficit never got closer than five runs, however, as Baker posted two insurance runs down the stretch.
Nick George (Sr., Sarina, Ontario, Sociology) was a team-best 3-for-4, while Ortega and Jessell both had two hits. Dominguez walked twice in the second game as well.
“Both of our starting pitchers had issues that we could not overcome, and offensively we gave away the first game by hitting into double plays,” Head Coach Mike Laird said. “We really missed our injured players this weekend.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa next Saturday to host Culver-Stockton in a Heart doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.
