WPU Begins Year on Missouri-Kansas Trip
William Penn University Athletics
Joplin, Mo./Pittsburg, Kan.–The Statesmen baseball team opened the 2016 season with a 1-3 record at neutral sites this past weekend.
William Penn (1-3) dropped Friday’s season opener 4-3 to William Woods (Mo.) before winning 8-1 over Hannibal-LaGrange (Mo.) Saturday. Later on Saturday, WPU fell 4-2 to Doane (Neb.), and then on Sunday, the Statesmen lost 5-2 to Midland (Neb.).
William Woods 4, WPU 3
Down 4-1 entering the bottom of the seventh, the Statesmen scored twice, but left the tying and winning runs on base. Each side finished with seven hits with Javier Gonzalez (Jr., Lakeside, Calif., Physical Education) producing two of his team’s hits.
Dylan McDonald (Jr., Chula Vista, Calif., Industrial Technology) struck out five (one walk) in a six-inning start; he allowed three runs (one earned) on six hits. Logan Overly (Sr., Oakley, Calif., Secondary Education) entered in the seventh and permitted one unearned with one strikeout.
WPU 8, Hannibal-LaGrange 1
The Trojans scored first, but WPU managed the final eight runs in the victory. The Statesmen highlighted their efforts with three runs in the fourth and two in the fifth.
William Penn tallied a 13-3 advantage in base knocks with Daniel Macias (Jr., Chula Vista, Calif., Physical Education), T.J. Murphy (So., Woodenville, Wash., Exercise Science) (two doubles), Anthony York (Jr., Chula Vista, Calif., Physical Education), William Vazquez (Jr., North Hollywood, Calif., General Accounting), and J.P. Rios (Sr., San Diego, Calif., Business Management) all recording two hits. York drove in a pair of runs, while the trio of Murphy, Vazquez, and Rios came around two times each.
Frankie Nunez (Jr., Lemon Grove, Calif., Sociology) worked six frames, allowing one earned run on three hits. The junior also struck out four, while Brian Harrity (Fr., Castle Rock, Colo., Software Engineering) added another K in one inning out of the bullpen.
Doane 4, WPU 2
The navy and gold’s lone error was the difference as Doane scored two in the seventh to take the win.
William Penn was outhit 7-6 with Cory Russell (Jr., El Cajon, Calif., Education) and Johnny Valdez (Jr., San Jacinto, Calif., Business Management) both managing two hits; Valdez left the park for the program’s first home run of the campaign.
Dakota Herman (Fr., Woodland Park, Colo., Biology) threw the first 4 1/3 innings (1 ER, 3 H, 4 BB), while Overly gave up only one hit in 1 2/3 frames. York had a rough go of it in the seventh, however, but did strike out one batter in the loss.
Midland 5, WPU 2
The squad’s only fielding mistake led to a three-run fifth for the Warriors. Macias and Dominik Sawyer (Jr., Chula Vista, Calif., Psychology and Human Services) both posted a pair of hits in the contest, while Tyler Martinez (Sr., San Diego, Calif., Sociology) had a nice four-inning start that included two Ks versus one BB. Aaron Soto (Jr., Lawndale, Calif., Communications) struck out a pair in two relief frames.
Next Up: William Penn travels to Tucson, Ariz. to compete in its annual spring break trip from March 5-11. During the week, the Statesmen will play nine games against five different opponents.
