WPU Fails to Hold Off AIB in Season-Ending Loss
William Penn University Athletics
Waterloo–Starting pitcher Jacob Logan (Sr., Galesburg, Ill., Psychology) delivered a gutsy performance, but the Statesmen baseball team could not overcome an AIB squad playing for its program life as the 2015 season ended with a 2-1 loss at the Midwest Collegiate Conference Tournament Monday.
Logan tossed 7 2/3 innings, permitting just two runs (both earned) on eight scattered hits. The senior, who was working on just one day of rest (pitched Saturday night against AIB), struck out seven with only one walk. He sat down eight in a row at one point.
“Jacob had the gutsiest performance I have seen from anybody all year,” Head Coach Mike Laird said. “It was unbelievable.”
Unfortunately, the fourth-seeded Statesmen (24-24) could only manage one run on six hits. The lower seed broke through right away when Robert Phiakeo (Jr., San Diego, Calif., Business Management) singled home Cory DeRush (Sr., Grand Junction, Colo., Business Management) in the top of the first.
The navy and gold were however unable to add any additional runs, leaving runners on base in the fifth, eighth, and ninth frames. DeRush led the offense with two hits.
The top-seeded Eagles (25-24) tied the game in the third and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth.
The loss ends the collegiate playing careers of 13 seniors, including Chris Bartmann (Washington, Iowa, Secondary Education), DeRush, Matt Emerson (Saugus, Calif., Business Management), Kenny Hall (Morgan Hill., Calif., Exercise Science), Logan, Kyle Maldonado (Centerville, Iowa, Physical Education), Ryan Marshall (Quartz Hill, Calif., Sociology), Patrick Roxbury (Sr., Canyon, Calif., Sociology), Josh Ruiz (Chula Vista, Calif., General Mathematics), Sho Serrano (Lancaster, Calif., Physical Education), Juvenal Terrazas (Sylmar, Calif., Physical Education), Matt Vasquez (Lancaster, Calif., Business Management), and Cole Williams (Napa, Calif., Physical Education).
