William Penn Wins Five in a Row to End Arizona Week
William Penn Women's Athletics
Tucson, Ariz.–Five straight wins capped a long spring break week for the Lady Statesmen softball team.
William Penn (10-8) finished its southwestern trip with a 10-4 record, including doubling up the opposition 92-46 and outhitting them .344-.205. The pitching staff stiffened to a solid 1.32 Earned Run Average, but the defense unfortunately struggled to field just .921 (32 errors).
Tuesday, March 6
William Penn 6, Trinity International (Ill.) 0
The navy and gold scored twice in the third and added four more in the fifth, while Amber Daly (Sr., Napa, Calif., Solano CC) picked up her first win with a four-hit shutout.
Khyia Lewis (Sr., Ottumwa, Ottumwa HS) was 2-for-4 with a home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Ashley Kingery (Jr., Knoxville, Knoxville HS) matched her senior teammate with two hits in three at-bats, and KC Routos (Jr., Newcastle, Wash., Pierce CC) also picked up two RBIs on a triple.
Brianne Rowley (Sr., Hood River, Ore., Blue Mountain CC) crossed home plate twice. The Lady Statesmen tallied nine base knocks in the victory.
Daly struck out a career-high nine without walking a single batter.
Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) 4, William Penn 2
In its toughest matchup of the week, William Penn’s defense was sub-par with four errors against the 15th-ranked team in the NAIA.
The Tigers scored three times in the second and never trailed in the game, while the Lady Statesmen answered with one in the third and another in the sixth. Both teams rapped out six hits with Brittni Reyes (Sr., Vacaville, Calif., Solano CC) topping William Penn with a 2-for-2 showing. The senior also recorded both runs.
Jennifer Whitehead (So., Oskaloosa, Oskaloosa HS) did not allow an earned run, striking out two against two walks.
William Penn 4, Cornerstone (Mich.) 3
Despite another five fielding mistakes, the navy and gold rebounded with a win, highlighted by a 10-4 edge in hits.
Molly Miller (Jr., Kalona, Mid-Prairie HS) was a perfect 3-for-3, while Ashley Stream (Sr., Chariton, Chariton HS) also picked up three hits in four tries. Ashlee Dennis (Fr., Loveland, Colo., Mountain View HS) added two base knocks in her first collegiate start.
Nicole Danna (Jr., Boone, Iowa Central CC) sent a dozen Cornerstone batters to the dugout on strikes, while walking only three. She gave up four hits, but did not permit an earned run (three unearned).
Thursday, March 8
Jamestown (N.D.) 10, William Penn 4
Another five-error contest sunk the Lady Statesmen in their worst loss of the week. A 10-6 deficit in hits did not help either.
The team scored three times in the fifth frame, all courtesy of a three-run homer by Stream (her first of 2012). The senior was 2-for-4 with three RBIs, while Reyes touched all four bases twice, including her first home run in the navy and gold.
Whitehead had a tough go, giving up ten runs (four earned) on ten hits. She posted four Ks and three BBs.
Aquinas (Mich.) 8, William Penn 6
An impressive 14-4 advantage in hits was negated due to a difficult first inning. In that frame, Aquinas scored six runs, helped by three of the team’s four errors.
Lewis homered again, going 2-for-4 with five RBIs. Miller and Dennis were each 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while Diana Cassaro (Fr., Las Vegas, Nev., Liberty HS) and Brailey Freed (Jr., Loveland, Colo., Otero CC) both managed to go 2-for-3.
Daly was the victim of that tough first inning, forcing the coaching staff to send in Mariah Trujillo (Fr., Arvada, Colo., Arvada HS) to replace her. The freshman finished the outing strong (5 1/3 IP), allowing only two runs (none earned) on two hits. She posted four strikeouts versus two bases on balls.
William Penn 7, Peru State (Neb.) 5
The squad’s five-game winning streak began with both offensive (12 hits) and defensive (one error) success.
Rowley brought home three with a first-inning homer and concluded the showdown with four RBIs and two runs scored. Freshman teammate Mikayla Djordjevic (Las Vegas, Nev., NW Career and Tech Academy) topped her, though, as she had hits in all four of her at-bats (one RBI). Miller was 2-for-5 as well.
Danna gave up five runs (four earned) on nine hits in five innings of work. She had five strikeouts (one walk) and was replaced by Daly in the sixth. The senior only gave up two hits in two shutout frames of relief for the save.
Friday, March 9
William Penn 3, Judson (Ill.) 2
Christine Gamble (Sr., Pahrump, Nev., Pahrump Valley HS) singled home Lewis with the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh. Judson, who was outhit by William Penn 9-8, tied the game in the top half.
Gamble (with two RBIs), Miller, and Lewis (1 HR, 3 R) all tallied two hits, while Whitehead gave up two runs (one earned) on eight hits. The sophomore recorded five strikeouts with one walk.
William Penn 12, Northwestern 0 (5 innings)
The Lady Statesmen dominated the Red Raiders (11-1 hits) in a quick victory. Three runs came across in the first, while four more were added in the second and third.
Seven different batters produced a base knock with Dennis, Miller, Stream, and Routos all managing two hits. Stream brought home four runs (two for Gamble), while Miller and Lewis each scored three times (two for Dennis).
Danna (5-1) nearly met the double-digit mark in strikeouts again with nine in a one-hit shutout, her second of the week. The junior walked four in the win.
Saturday, March 10
William Penn 8, College of St. Mary (Neb.) 0 (5 innings)
The plate prowess continued against CSM with a 9-1 edge in hitting. Dennis, Stream (two runs), and Rikki Picariello (Sr., Port Coquitlam, B.C., Olympic CC) posted two hits apiece. Rowley hammered a three-run roundtripper in the first inning.
Another one-hit shutout came via the arm of Daly (2-2), who had two strikeouts and two walks.
William Penn 4, Calumet-St. Joseph (Ind.) 1 (8 innings)
A three-run eighth wrapped up the trip as William Penn held a slight 6-5 margin in hits.
Lewis, who now has a team-best four home runs, and Rowley, who has three, both sent balls over the fence. Rowley’s two-run shot came in the final frame, while Lewis scored twice.
Whitehead (3-5) had her best outing of the season against the Crimson Wave, striking out seven (no walks) in a five-hit, one-run (zero earned) win.
For the week, Miller paced the hitters with a .526 batting average (20-for-38), while Lewis and Stream each produced 15 RBIs. Lewis also touched the final bag a team-high 18 times.
Danna was perfect among the cacti with a 5-0 record and 46 strikeouts, while Whitehead owned a 1.08 ERA in 39 innings. Daly led the staff with a .176 opponent batting average.
“We shored up a lot of spots in our lineup, but our defense needs to improve drastically and immediately,” Head Coach Mike Christner said.
