Statesmen Open Heart Play with Pair of Losses to Pirates

Parkville, Mo.--The William Penn baseball team had an ominous start to its Heart of America Athletic Conference season as it dropped the first two games of its four-game series against the Park Pirates Sunday.

WPU (12-5, 0-2 Heart) fell by scores of 3-2 and 7-2.

After three scoreless frames from both teams in the first contest, William Penn was able to break the deadlock in the fourth inning as Franklin Aparicio (Sr., Panama City, Panama, Business Management) led off the inning with a double.  A couple batters later, Abraham Arroyo (So., Camuy, P.R., Wellness and Recreation) brought Aparicio around to score.

Park (8-7, 2-0 Heart) got its offense going in the fifth, tallying two runs on three hits against Statesmen starter Nick George (Jr., Sarnia, Ontario, Sociology and Human Services).

The navy and gold responded in their next at-bats in the sixth frame.  After two Pirate errors put runners on first and third for WPU, George laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Arroyo to tie the contest at 2-2.  The opener featured seven total errors (three by WPU).

Unfortunately, the home team got the run right back in the bottom half of the frame and went into the seventh with a 3-2 lead.

With his team facing its final chances, Justin Martinez (Jr., Bronx, N.Y., Sports Management) started a two-out rally with a double and advanced to third on a throwing error off a batted ball by Blair Speas (So., O'Fallon, Mo., Undecided).  The tying run was stranded at third, however, and William Penn's winning streak was snapped at six games.

George did not allow an earned run in six innings of work.  He permitted eight hits, while striking out three. The Statesmen managed four hits in the setback.

Just as it did in the opener, William Penn also got in the score column first in the nightcap.  Jessell singled through the left side to plate E.J. Roncone (Jr., Gurnee, Ill., Sports Management) in the top of the second inning.  Park responded in the bottom half of the frame, however, knotting it at 1-1.

The Pirates then pushed across four more runs in the third inning, followed by two additional tallies in the fourth inning to get out to 7-1 edge.

The Statesmen, who were outhit 8-5, took one run back in the fifth inning as Aparicio was able to score on an error.  It served as the final run of the day.

Brian Thomas (Jr., Shingle Springs, Calif., Sports Management) was saddled with the loss.  The junior gave five earned runs (seven total) on eight hits, while striking out seven and walking three.  Austin Waterhouse (Jr., Keota, Iowa, Sports Management) came in for the final two innings and permitted just one base on balls in very effective relief.

Both Jessell and George finished with two hits in the second bout.

"Park was the better team today," Head Coach Mike Laird said.  "Our overall performance was very disappointing, and we literally gave away the first game.  This team has to be consistent and execute the next time out to take a pair."

Next Up: After a day off (weather conditions are poor on Monday), the Statesmen will return to Parkville, Mo. Tuesday to take on Park in another Heart doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.