William Penn Splits Conference-Opening Twinbill

William Penn University Athletics

William Penn University Athletics

by Wade Steinlage

Lamoni–The Statesmen softball team rallied with late-inning runs in the nightcap to secure a split of its Heart of America Athletic Conference-opening doubleheader against Graceland Wednesday.

WPU (7-11, 1-1 Heart) dropped the opener 2-0, but claimed the second game 5-3.

Katie Springer (Jr., Riverside, Iowa, Undecided) tossed a strong game to start the day, but unfortunately the effort was wasted as the navy and gold were unable to produce a base knock against GU (10-3, 1-1 Heart).

The junior allowed two runs on eight hits with the lone scores coming on a two-run homer in the fourth frame.

The visitors also has issues in the field with three errors.

William Penn’s offensive struggles continued in the nightcap. Despite putting runners in scoring position in each of the first four innings, WPU failed to bring anyone around, while the Yellowjackets went up 2-0 with a pair of runs in the second.

The Statesmen finally broke through in the fifth, though, tallying three runs on four hits. Sonia Reddy (So., Tracy, Calif., Exercise Science) led off with a single and then scored on a double by Dalaney Bice (So., Woodward, Iowa, Human Services & Psychology) in the following at-bat.

Bice then knotted the game on a double via Chyanne Koko (Sr., Waianae, Hawaii, Physical Education), while Koko put the visiting crew on top by a single from Rachael Haessly (Fr., Alpine, Calif., Biology).

The Statesmen grew their advantage with two more runs in the sixth courtesy of RBI doubles once again by Bice and Koko.

Koko was also the starting pitcher and nearly threw a complete game, but ran into trouble in the seventh as Graceland put the tying run on base. Fortunately, Springer came in and recorded back-to-back outs to secure the save.

Koko managed five strikeouts against two walks in 6 1/3 innings.

Bice finished 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while Koko was 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs. Haessly ended the win going 2-for-4 as well. WPU overcame three errors to capture the victory.

Next Up: William Penn travels to Cedar Rapids Thursday to face Mount Mercy in a Heart doubleheader at 5 p.m.

Posted by on Mar 15 2018. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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