WPU Posts Pair of 2-1 Wins on Second Day of Dordt Tourney
Sioux Center–The Statesmen softball team remained perfect on the season as it knocked off two more foes at the Dordt Dome Tournament Saturday.
William Penn (4-0) defeated host Dordt 2-1 before also dropping Mount Marty 2-1 in the day’s nightcap.
WPU, which outhit the Defenders 7-4, opened the day’s scoring in the first inning when Chelsey Huff (Sr., Douds, Iowa, Exercise Science) helped her own cause when she singled home Peyton Naranjo (So., Ripon, Calif., Biology).
Laila Smith (So., Olympia, Wash., Elementary Education) then doubled the navy and gold advantage on a single that plated Jessica Lathrop (Fr., Ankeny, Iowa, Exercise Science).
Dordt cut the margin in half in the fourth, but that was the only run it would produce as the duo of Huff and Madie Anderson (Sr., Mount Pleasant, Iowa, Elementary Education) were impressive throughout.
Huff worked 4 2/3 strong frames, permitting just one run on four hits, while striking out 10 and walking three.
She ran into trouble in the fifth as the Defenders loaded the bases, but Anderson relieved her and extinguished the threat with a strikeout.
The senior went on to sit down the final six batters to collect the seven-out save. She struck out three in her performance.
Huff and Lathrop both finished 2-for-3 offensively, while Naranjo drew three walks.
The Statesmen offense was slowed against the Lancers in the day’s second contest, producing just four base knocks. Fortunately, another outstanding pitching performance limited Mount Marty to only one run on three hits.
Tori Smith (So., Olympia, Wash., Secondary Education) was untouchable through five frames, allowing one mere baserunner (via walk). Her perfect game last 4 1/3 innings, while she had a no-hitter going for 5 1/3 frames.
While Smith was shutting down MMU, she was also crushing at the plate, hitting a solo home run in the second frame. The roundtripper is the first of the year for William Penn.
Later in the inning, Marin Frazee (So., Sioux City, Iowa, Exercise Science) also touched home plate off a single by Naranjo. Naranjo paced the WPU lineup with two hits.
The Lancers eventually broke through in the sixth with their first and only run. Emily Bryant (Sr., University Place, Wash., Nursing) then entered in the sixth and gave up only one hit to match Anderson with an extended save (1 2/3 innings).
Smith battled for 5 1/3 frames with just one run on two hits. She struck out five hitters against one walk in the victory.
“I have been saying that our pitching staff is good and has a mix of a lot of different tools,” Head Coach Laura North said. “They proved that today as Chelsey Huff and Madie Anderson were a wicked combo in the first game. Tori Smith was fantastic in the second contest, and Emily Bryant was huge in closing it out.”
“We would have liked to score a few more runs, and we need to work out a few things offensively, but there is also a lot of good things happening at the plate as well,” North added. “We just need to get some chemistry there.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Rosemont, Ill. next Friday to compete in a dome tournament hosted by Roosevelt. The squad will face Aquinas (Mich.) at 5 p.m. and Madonna at 7:30 p.m.
