William Penn Splits with (RV) Indiana Southeast
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
New Albany, Ind.–The Statesmen Baseball team got back on the field for the first time in 11 days after a plethora of cancellations due to the inclement weather in the Midwest.
William Penn (9-2) took its talents east to take on a quality Indiana Southeast (6-4) ball club that was receiving top-25 votes in the latest NAIA National Poll.
WPU 4, IUS 5
Chase Stratton (Jr., Clearfield, Utah, Sports Management) got the call for game one of the four game set that WPU will play in Indiana. The junior southpaw tossed 4.2 innings while allowing only two earned runs, striking out seven, and leaving the game with the lead intact.
It was a scoreless affair until the Statesmen bats woke up in the top of the fifth inning. Seth Reisbeck (Sr., Meridian, Idaho, History/Government) got the scoring started as he crossed home plate on an error committed by the Grenadiers center fielder. A couple of batters later, Boston Romero (Sr., Fairfield, Calif., Sociology) gave the navy and gold a little breathing room with a two-RBI double, scoring Zach Edgar (Jr., Elgin, Ill., Business Management) and Adrian Garcia (Jr., Ontario, Calif., Mechanical Engineering). Blaze Speas (Sr., O’Fallon, Mo., Wellness and Recreation) also added a single, scoring Romero to give the Statesmen the 4-0 advantage.
Indiana University Southeast cut the deficit in half in the bottom of the fifth inning as they plated two runs and forced Stratton out of the game. Nick Bruns (Sr., Frankfort, Ill., Sports Management) was fantastic in relief throwing 1.1 perfect innings and adding a strikeout.
William Penn had the Grenadier’s down to their final out in the seventh but unfortunately were unable to close the door. IUS rallied to tie the game and force extra innings where they walked-off on the Statesmen to secure the 5-4 victory.
Romero led the charge for WPU at the plate finishing 3-4 (2B, 2 RBI, R, BB, SB) while Reisbeck and Tanner Bedier (Fr., Bondurant, Iowa, Business management) each logged multi-hit performances, both finishing 2-5.
WPU played flawlessly on defense committing no errors but left 13 men on base.
WPU 7, IUS 5
Lionel Colon (Jr., Vieques, P.R., Business Management) toed the rubber in game two, looking to his team back in the win column. The Puerto Rico native collected the win pitching four innings, allowing three eared runs while striking out seven Grenadier hitters.
The Statesmen touched up the Grenadier starting pitcher for five runs in the top of the second inning. Anthony Huggins (So., Davenport, Fla., Biology) led off the inning with a walk and later stole second base to get in scoring position for Jarrett Hunt (Jr., Logan, Utah, Digital Communication). Hunt singled home Huggins to get the scoring started. WPU managed to load the bases and Edgar made IUS pay with a run scoring single to give his team a 2-0 advantage. Garcia then hit a sacrifice fly to center field while Romero and Bedier each followed with RBI singles.
Indiana University Southeast scratched across a run in the bottom of the second but WPU responded in the third when Reisbeck came around to score on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Romero. The Grenadier’s plated four runs over the next four innings to get them to within one of the Statesmen. Edgar grabbed the visitors some insurance in the top of the seventh with an RBI single that scored Dominic Bravo (Jr., Downey, Calif., Digital Communication).
Alec Meyers (Jr., Casper, Wyo., Biology) shut the door in the bottom of the seventh to give WPU its ninth win of the season.
Four Statesmen hitters had at least two hits in the win. Edgar led with three hits and a pair of RBI’s. Reisbeck, Bedier and Romero all finished 2-4.
Next Up: The Statesmen will be back in action Tuesday, wrapping up their trip as they play a doubleheader taking on Indiana Southeast at 11 am and Georgetown at 1:30 pm.
