The William Penn baseball team took on the Midamerica Nazarene Pioneers in the Heart of America Athletic Conference consolation finals, one game away from earning an appearance in the championship game.
A championship berth wasn’t in the cards, unfortunately, as the Statesmen dropped the semifinal matchup with the #23 nationally ranked Pioneers by a score of 2-0.
WPU 0 MNU 2
Pitching set the tone early on, with starter Teddy Natter (Jr., Reno, Nev., Business Management) trading zeroes with the Pioneers’ starter. Both teams were able to get a hit on the board in the first inning, but both runners were stranded as baserunners were hard to come by in the innings to follow.
The Statesmen were able to get another hit in the fourth, a single by Dominic Bravo (Sr., Downey, Calif., Digital Communications), but Bravo was stranded as the game remained scoreless through four.
Chase Stratton (Sr., Clearfield, Utah, Sports Management) took the mound to begin the sixth, putting a conclusion on another brilliant start by Natter. Stratton picked up right where Natter left off, putting another zero on the board thanks in part to a couple of strikeouts.
The Pioneers set up probably their best scoring chance of the game in the seventh, putting runners in scoring position with only one out after the first two batters reached and advanced on a sacrifice bunt. Stratton was up to the challenge, inducing whiffs on the next two batters he faced to snuff out the fire and keep the game tied.
The Statesmen bats just could not break through, however, and the Pioneers were finally able to sneak a run across, the first for either team in the game.
MNU scratched across an insurance run in the top of the ninth to make the deficit two, but the Statesmen started off hot in the home half of the ninth. Adrian Garcia (Sr., Ontario, Calif., Sociology) and Jarrett Hunt (Sr., Logan, Utah, Digital Communications) were hit by pitches to begin the inning then were bunted into scoring position with only one out. With two outs, a ground ball up the middle looked ticketed for center field, but a great play by the Pioneers shortstop recorded the final out and ended the Statesmen’s run in the Heart tournament.
Natter worked five scoreless innings, allowing only two hits while striking out three. Stratton was given the loss with 3.2 innings in relief, allowing two earned runs on three hits and two walks.
The Statesmen offense was quiet in the game, with Garcia and Bravo accounting for the only two hits in the game.