William Penn Sweeps on Senior Day
William Penn Lady Statesmen Softball Seniors at Senior Day
Oskaloosa–The Lady Statesmen gave their oldest players a great gift on Senior Night with two wins over St. Ambrose in Midwest Collegiate Conference softball play Tuesday.
William Penn (37-12, 20-2 MCC) beat the Queen Bees 1-0 and 4-3 to stretch its winning streak to five games. The program started the year 0-5 and then fell to 12-10 on March 17, but since then it has claimed victory in 25 of the last 27 contests.
Neither of Tuesday’s wins came easy however on a night where nine players were recognized for playing their final regular season home games.
After 4 1/2 scoreless frames, the Lady Statesmen finally broke the scoreless tie in the fifth. Brittni Reyes (Sr., Vacaville, Calif., Solano CC) opened the inning by reaching on an error and later scored on a single by Brianne Rowley (Sr., Hood River, Ore., Blue Mountain CC).
The run held up as Jennifer Whitehead (So., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) improved to 17-7 with a two-hit shutout. The sophomore posted nine strikeouts against one walk.
Ashley Stream (Sr., Chariton, Chariton HS) tallied two hits in a game that saw William Penn hold a 7-2 edge in hits.
St. Ambrose (22-23, 8-12 MCC) immediately reversed its offensive fortunes in the nightcap with three runs in the first.
The home team remained down by three until the third. That is when Khyia Lewis (Sr., Ottumwa, Ottumwa HS) drove a pitch into the wind and way over the left field fence for a two-run homer. She now has 13 roundtrippers, one behind Rowley for the team lead.
William Penn scored the tying and go-ahead runs in the fourth inning. Rikki Picariello (Sr., Port Coquitlam, B.C., Olympic CC) touched home plate on an error and Ashlee Dennis (Fr., Loveland, Colo., Mountain View HS) came around later with Stream collecting the RBI.
Seven different hitters recorded a base knock as the Lady Statesmen outhit St. Ambrose 7-4.
Amber Daly (Sr., Napa, Calif., Solano CC) tossed the first four innings and earned the win. She struck out two in moving to 9-2. Nicole Danna (Jr., Boone, Iowa Central CC) gave up only one hit in three scoreless innings. She secured her second save with three strikeouts.
Next: William Penn travels to Bourbonnais, Ill. Friday to face Olivet Nazarene in a non-conference doubleheader at 3 p.m.
