The William Penn softball team will head into its final doubleheader of the year with a slightly slimmer chance of stealing the second seed for the league tourney after splitting a Midwest Collegiate Conference twinbill with Mount Mercy Thursday.
On Cancer Awareness Night, the Statesmen (20-27, 13-9 MCC) were victorious 4-3 in the opener, but lost the nightcap 10-4. While 2015 has been a disappointing one at times, the team extended an impressive streak on Thursday by reaching the 20-win plateau for the 19th year in a row.
Entering Sunday’s home doubleheader against Grand View (1 p.m. start for Senior Day), the navy and gold sit one game back of Clarke (13-7) for second place in the MCC.
The Mustangs (14-23, 3-13 MCC) put up the initial run of the first game, tallying a mark in the second. WPU answered right away as Marissa Pereyra singled home Bri Zerley.
The hosts then took a 3-1 lead in the third with two runs, highlighted by a double from Brittanee Grove that brought in Jorden Steele.
Mount Mercy refused to go quietly in defeat, though, producing one run in both the fourth and sixth frames, forcing the Statesmen to come up with heroics in the seventh with the game tied 3-3.
They did just that as Ashlee Dennis led off with a double and was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Steele. The Mustangs tried to avert disaster by intentionally walking power hitters Grove and Zerley since their runs did not matter anyways.
With one out and the bases loaded, the pressure was now placed firmly on the shoulders of freshman Taylor Vernon, but she did not flinch, driving a shot down the left-field line that just stayed fair to score Dennis with the game-winner.
Dennis, Grove (also one walk), and Pereyra were all 2-for-3, while Vernon was 2-for-4 with two RBIs. Zerley also finished 1-for-2 with two bases on balls. William Penn notched a 10-7 advantage in hits.
Grove worked 5 2/3 innings in the start, giving up three earned runs on six hits, while striking out two and walking three. She did not figure into the decision, though, as Lunden Young relieved her in the sixth. Young claimed the victory by allowing one hit and striking out one batter in 1 1/3 frames.
Between games, the teams joined together for a touching balloon release, letting balloons of orange (Leukemia), purple (all cancer), and white (cancer survivors) into the air.
When play resumed, the momentum from Vernon’s winning hit quickly faded away with MMU putting three on the board in the first.
The Mustangs tacked on four more in the third before WPU could finally manage a reply with one run in the bottom of the third. William Penn pulled to within 7-2 with another score in the fourth, but never really challenged Mount Mercy in the nightcap.
Chelsee Herron provided the Statesmen’s biggest punch of the day as she cleared the right-field fence with a two-run home run in the sixth. The homer is her first in the navy and gold.
Young (8-11) had a short outing of just 2/3 of an inning. Paige Miguel struggled as well (two innings), forcing the coaching staff to bring in Chyanne Koko for her collegiate debut.
Koko’s nerves settled quickly and she limited the Mustangs to just three runs (two earned) on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings. While keeping her squad within striking distance, the freshman southpaw had two strikeouts (no walks).
