Statesmen Score a Pair of Wins to Start Final Series at Penn Field

Oskaloosa--The William Penn baseball team took the first two contests of a four-game series against Grand View in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Saturday.

In the final weekend at historic Penn Field, WPU (17-8, 4-5 Heart) won by scores of 6-2 and 3-2 (8 innings).

Grand View got on the board first in the opener, putting up two runs in the first inning. WPU was not able to get anything going until the third inning when Blair Speas (So., O'Fallon, Mo., Undecided) got on with a double, followed by a walk from Franklin Aparicio (Sr., Panama City, Panama, Business Management). A couple batters later, Nick George (Jr., Sarina, Ontario, Sociology) came through with an RBI to plate Speas. Justin Martinez (Jr., Bronx, N.Y., Sports Management) then doubled to center field to bring George and Aparicio around to score as the Statesmen took a 3-2 lead.

After giving up two runs in the first inning, George settled into the contest and gave up only two runs (none earned) on three hits, while striking out four batters and walking three in five innings of work.

William Penn got things going again in the fifth inning as a single by Martinez and a walk by Nathan Jessell (Jr., Napa, Calif., Sociology) put Martinez in scoring position for Abraham Arroyo (So., Camuy, P.R., Wellness and Recreation) who delivered an RBI single which scored Martinez. A batter later, Joel Holguin (So., San Bernardino, Calif., Sociology) singled up the middle to bring in both Jessell and Arroyo.

Stetson Denning (Sr., Queen Creek, Ariz., Sports Management) took over on the mound in the sixth inning for the navy and gold and shut down the Vikings to complete the victory. Denning did not permit a run nor a hit, while walking one and striking out three.

Multiple Statesmen had hits in the opener with Martinez leading the way with two hits and two RBIs, while Holguin came through with two RBIs. WPU outhit GVU 8-3.

The nightcap saw William Penn get on the board first as Tim Jean (Sr., Libertyville, Ill., Public Accounting) tripled in the first inning and then scored off a GVU error.

Runs were hard to come by for both teams until Grand View tied the game 1-1 in the top of the sixth inning. WPU responded in the bottom of the frame as Martinez singled before being pinch-run for by Logan Lieser (Fr., Blaine, Minn.). Jessell then dropped a bunt down first base line to advance Lieser to second. Arroyo eventually singled up the middle to score Lieser and put William Penn up 2-1.

Unfortunately, GVU was able to tie the game once more at 2-2 in the top of the seventh. William Penn had a chance to win in regular play as it loaded the bases with two outs, but could not come through and extra innings ensued.

Matt Shover (Grad., Barry, Ill., Master's of Sports Management), who came on in relief in the seventh inning, kept Grand View off the board in the eighth, giving WPU a chance to walk it off. Holguin started the eighth with a walk and Speas delivered a double down the left field line to advance Holguin to third. Aparicio was then intentionally walked to load the bases for the Statesmen. Just 90 feet away, a pitch got past the Viking catcher which allowed Holguin to score from third win the winning run.

Speas led the Statesmen charge with three hits, while Jean was next as he tallied two hits of his own.  Martinez, Jessell, Arroyo, and Schrock all came away with one hit as well.

Brian Thomas (Jr., Shingle Springs, Calif., Sports Management) struck out nine (three walks) as the starter for the Statesmen in six innings on the bump; the junior gave up two runs on four hits. Out of relief, Shover allowed only three hits while walking one batter and striking out two.

"We are very glad to get two wins from Grand View," Head Coach Mike Laird said. "We had timely hitting in the first game, but did not execute too well offensively in second, but hung on to win."

Next Up: Weather has postponed Sunday's second doubleheader between WPU and Grand View.  The teams will finish the series Tuesday at 1 p.m.