William Penn Takes Series Over MVC with High-Scoring Sweep
Marshall, Mo.–The Statesmen baseball team put on a show offensively as it swept Missouri Valley in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday.
WPU (13-11, 6-6 Heart) won by scores of 12-11 (8 innings) and 22-11. The visitors won three of the weekend’s four matchups.
The navy and gold used a balanced attack to claim the opener as all nine starters posted a base hit. William Penn overcame being outhit 15-13.
The Vikings (9-15, 5-7 Heart) rushed out to a 6-0 advantage through three innings, but the Statesmen did not blink.
Abraham Arroyo (Grad., Camuy, P.R., Master’s of Sports Management) got the Statesmen on the board in the fourth with a solo home run. It started a streak of eight unanswered runs by the visitors.
Ened Perez (So., Orocovis, P.R., Kinesiology) doubled the squad’s run total in the fifth by tagging up and scoring on a sacrifice fly by Carlos Herrera (Jr., Bronx, N.Y., Kinesiology).
WPU added four more in the sixth, beginning with an RBI single by Keoni Young (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev., Exercise Science), while Zach Otten (Sr., Mapleton, Ill., Business Management) doubled in both Young and Hector Dominguez (Jr., Fontana, Calif., Exercise Science). Perez concluded the sixth-inning scoring by plating Otten on an infield single to knot the contest at 6-6.
The Statesmen then used its power to take the lead in the seventh as Aiden North (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Industrial Technology) and Bradley Soto (Jr., Davenport, Fla., Business Management) hit back-to-back solo home runs.
Unfortunately, Missouri Valley answered with a two-run home run to force extra frames.
WPU took momentum right back in the top of the eighth, beginning with a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch of Arroyo. Two more runs came across before Young doubled in Arroyo.
The Vikings nearly rallied again in the bottom half with a three-run blast to pull within one, but the Statesmen held off the hosts to take the first game of the day. Dreyton LaVeine (Sr., West Burlington, Iowa, Sociology) entered after the homer and struck out the next batter to claim the save.
The trio of Dominguez, Young, and Otten all managed two hits, while Arroyo, Young, and Otten all tallied two RBIs. Arroyo was the only player to score multiple runs, doing so on three occasions.
The offenses were even more locked in in the nightcap as William Penn held a 20-13 margin in hits. The Statesmen also took advantage of a sloppy MVC defense that committed eight fielding errors.
WPU scored in all seven frames, beginning with three runs in the first, headlined by a two-run double from Dominguez.
Although they tacked on a tally in the second, the Statesmen fell behind 6-4 after two innings. However, just as they did in the opener, the visiting crew kept cranking away, managing seven straight runs over the next two innings, including RBI singles by Ened Perez, Otten, and Froymer Ortega (Sr., Valencia, Venezuela, Wellness and Recreation). Ened Perez capped the stretch with a two-run home run.
Run-scoring singles from Soto and Young were part of a five-run fifth as the Statesmen stretched their edge to 16-7.
Arroyo then drove in three runs on a sixth-inning roundtripper, while Ened Perez notched two RBIs on a single. One final run was plated in the seventh.
William Penn reached the 20-run mark for the second time this season.
Dominguez and Ened Perez both tallied four hits, while North and Soto had three and Ortega finished with two. Eight of WPU’s batters recorded a base knock.
Ened Perez guided the navy and gold with five RBIs, while Dominguez managed four. The duo of Arroyo and Young ended up with three RBIs.
Dominguez touched home plate five times, while Arroyo, who walked three times, scored on four occasions.
“The boys were able to hang on in the first game, a game that was almost a duplicate of Friday’s second game in many ways,” Head Coach Mike Laird said. “The second game was an offensive display from many of our guys. Winning three of four on the road this weekend was crucial.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Fayette, Mo. next Saturday to face Central Methodist in a Heart doubleheader at 1 p.m.
