OSKALOOSA, IA — Led by a six-hit outing by Franklin Aparicio (Sr., Panama City, Panama, Business Management), the William Penn baseball team scored a season-high 27 runs in Sunday’s second game as it again split a Heart of America Athletic Conference doubleheader with MidAmerica Nazarene.

The Statesmen (19-12, 7-9 Heart) lost the opening contest 10-9, but bounced back with a huge 27-9 victory over the Pioneers (17-16, 10-6 Heart) in the nightcap.

MNU got on the board first in the opener with back-to-back home runs to take an early 4-0 lead. The navy and gold were not phased, though, scoring two runs in the bottom half of the inning. A lead-off single from Aparicio got things started for the Statesmen, while Tim Jean (Sr., Libertyville, Ill., Public Accounting) was then hit by a pitch. Nick George (Jr., Sarina, Ontario, Sociology and Human Services) eventually doubled down the left-field line to score both Aparicio and Jean.

After two scoreless frames, WPU added another run in the fourth inning as Nathan Jessell (Jr., Napa, Calif., Sociology) drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in Blair Speas (So., O’Fallon, Mo., Undecided) to narrow the deficit to one at 4-3.

William Penn added two more runs in the fifth inning behind a two-run homer from Joel Holguin (So., San Bernardino, Calif., Sociology) to take a 6-4 advantage.

Unfortunately, the visitors got the runs back and then some, notching five runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 9-4 lead.  Headlined by a two-run roundtripper from George, WPU continued to swing hot bats in the bottom half of the inning, tallying four runs to tie the game yet again at 9-9.

MidAmerica Nazarene unfortunately answered with another run in the top of the seventh to go ahead for good. The Statesmen had an opportunity to tie or walk it off in the bottom of the inning, but the chance fell by the wayside as the navy and gold dropped the first outing.

Ty Harter (So., Galesburg, Ill.) pitched 5 1/3 innings and recorded three strikeouts.

George led the way for the Statesmen offense as he finished with three hits and four RBIs, while Aparicio finished with three hits as well.  Holguin also tallied one hit along with an RBI.

The nightcap started off similar to the first matchup as the Pioneers pushed four runs across in the first inning of play. The Statesmen would respond in the bottom half of the frame as back-to-back singles by Aparicio and Jean, followed by a hit by pitch for George, loaded the bases for the Statesmen. Holguin and Trevor Dooley (Jr., Prole, Iowa, Computer Science) then brought in their teammates with back-to-back sacrifice flies to make it a 4-2 ballgame.

After neither team pushed a run across in the second inning, the Statesmen offense got going with five runs in the third inning, including a Holguin two-run home run to center field. Abraham Arroyo (So., Camuy, P.R. Wellness and Recreation), Aparicio, and Jean also added to the score column as they all had RBI singles in the inning.  The fourth inning saw William Penn push one more run across as an RBI single from Speas extended the lead to 8-4.

After scoring four runs in the first inning, MNU added one in the fifth inning. The home squad then went found a groove and could not be stopped.  Paced by two doubles–a two-run shot from Aparicio and a three-run pop from Dillan Schrock (Sr., Shingle Springs, Calif., Sociology)–the navy and gold hung 11 runs in the bottom of the fifth.

The Pioneers were able to get one run back in the sixth inning, but the Statesmen again went off, this time with an eight-run frame as they pushed the lead to 27-6 ending into the seventh inning.

The final inning of play saw the visiting team add two inconsequential runs to its total.

WPU outhit the Pioneers 23-15 in the bout with Aparicio leading the way with a school-record six hits; the single-game record covers play since the 1999 season.  The senior also tallied four RBIs.

Holguin finished with four hits and six RBIs, while Jean also had four base knocks and two RBIs. Speas finished with two hits and four RBIs as well.

Stetson Denning (Sr., Queen Creek, Ariz., Sports Management) got the win in the second game for the Statesmen with six innings of work.

“This was a series of extremes,” Head Coach Mike Laird said.  “Our offense was amazing at times, while our bullpen arms struggled again.”