OSKALOOSA — The Statesmen softball teams collected two much-needed victories as it swept Graceland in a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader Sunday.
WPU (17-23, 6-10 Heart) won by scores of 4-3 and 5-4.
The opener featured just seven total hits (4-3 in favor of GU), but the hosts took advantage of three Graceland errors.
The Yellowjackets (22-17, 7-9 Heart) scored once in their initial at-bats in the top of the first inning, while WPU finally knotted the contest at 1-1 in the third when Charley Geguzis (Sr., Williamsburg, Iowa, Business Management) scored off of an error.
GU reclaimed the advantage in the next half inning, but another error by the visitors helped open the floodgates for a three-run bottom of the fifth for the home squad. Alexis Price (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Elementary Education) led off with a triple and eventually scored on a fielding mistake. Back-to-back sacrifice flies by Laila Smith (Fr., Olympia, Wash., Elementary Education) and Abby Wilson (Sr., Calgary, Alberta, Nursing) also drove home Zoey Jones (Sr., Ottumwa, Iowa, Elementary Education) and Geguzis as the Statesmen earned their first advantage.
William Penn stayed on top as Chelsey Huff (Jr., Douds, Iowa, Exercise Science) cruised through the final two innings for the win. The junior got the win, striking out 11 versus one walk in a complete game.
“Chelsey Huff was actually a little wild in the opener, but she sure was effective,” Head Coach Laura North said. “With 11 strikeouts, it shows how good she is, even when she does not have her best stuff. Charley Geguzis was phenomenal on defense. If Chelsey did not strike them out, Charley was making the play to get the out.”
The nightcap was another lower-scoring affair, even though the sides did combine for 25 total hits (14-11 in favor of GU).
Once again, the Yellowjackets tallied the first run of the matchup in the first inning, while the Statesmen made it 1-1 in the second as Price recorded an RBI double.
Graceland then took control with two in the third and presumably an insurance run in the seventh for a 4-1 edge. Fortunately, the visitors were stopped on a few other occasions, keeping WPU within striking distance entering its final plate appearances.
Geguzis and Laila Smith led off the seventh with consecutive singles, while Wilson doubled home Geguzis in the following at-bat. Laila Smith then pulled the navy and gold within one just a batter later, while Wilson made it 4-4 with just one out being recorded.
A single from Peyton Naranjo (Fr., Ripon, Calif., Biology) and a walk by Price then loaded the pads. Nayely Martinez (Sr., Carson, Calif., Business Management) put the next ball into play to the second baseman. The hit was fielded cleanly, but the throw home for the forceout was offline and Tori Smith (Fr., Olympia, Wash., Secondary Education) scored to finish the come-from-behind victory.
The quintet of Laila Smith, Tori Smith, Naranjo, Price, and Geguzis all finished with two hits.
Tori Smith entered out of the bullpen and worked out of several james to get the win. She permitted only one run on seven scattered hits in 3 2/3 innings, while posting four strikeouts (one walk).
“This was a huge win for Tori Smith,” North said. “She has been working so hard and had not gotten much time on either side of things since spring break. She got the job done for us, both in the circle and at the plate. It was poetic justice that she scored the winning run. Charley was again great on both offense and defense. Alexis Price also stepped up big time for us today.”
“We have been playing really good softball and it was our time to catch some breaks and have the ball fall our way,” North said. “I am really proud of the effort in both games and the fight we had. These wins were huge for us to keep our hopes alive of making the conference tournament.”
Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa next Saturday to host Central Methodist in a Heart doubleheader at 1 p.m.
