OSKALOOSA — The Statesmen baseball team was not able to take advantage of two quality pitching starts as it fell twice to Benedictine in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Saturday.
WPU (14-16, 7-11 Heart) fell by scores of 7-4 and 3-0 (8 innings).
The hosts put three early runs on the board, including Keoni Young (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev., Exercise Science) singling home Aiden North (So., Oskaloosa, Iowa, Industrial Technology) in the first, while a triple by Juan Perez (Jr., Harlem, N.Y., Sports Management) drove in both North and Carlos Herrera (Jr., Bronx, N.Y., Kinesiology) in the second.
BC (11-24, 6-16 Heart) scratched out its first run in the third, but the navy and gold stayed on top until the sixth frame. The Ravens pulled even at 3-3 in that inning, and then went on top with four more tallies in the seventh.
WPU got one of those runs back in the bottom of the seventh as Bradley Soto (Jr., Davenport, Fla., Business Management) crossed home plate, but it was not enough.
William Penn held a 9-8 edge in hits with North finishing 2-for-4.
Abel Madueno (Sr., San Bernardino, Calif., Business Management) worked six solid frames, permitting just three runs on five hits. He struck out nine against two walks, but did not factor into the decision.
The nightcap was an impressive pitching duel that featured only 10 hits (7-3 in favor of BC), including just six in the first seven innings.
Neither side mounted much of a plate presence through the initial seven frames as extra play ensued. Unfortunately, Benedictine broke through against the Statesmen relief pitching with three runs in the top of the eighth and WPU failed to produce a response.
Young was 2-for-3, but Dreyton LaVeine (Sr., West Burlington, Iowa, Sociology) was the squad hero with seven strikeouts (one walk) in seven innings of scoreless pitching. He allowed only three hits and just one Raven reached second base.
“This was a very disappointing start to the series,” Head Coach Mike Laird said. “Abel Madueno gave us six strong innings, while Dreyton LaVeine was also extremely sharp. Unfortunately, our offense was flat and our bullpen struggled.”
