Springfield, Mo. – Evangel started their Heart of America conference season with a pair of losses falling to William Penn in a doubleheader, 9-4 and 7-3, at the Evangel Baseball Complex on Wednesday.
William Penn scored six runs in the first inning of game one highlighted by a grand slam by catcher Dominik Sawyer. The Crusaders held the Statesmen off the board for the next five innings and pulled within two runs of the lead on DH Kyle Thurman's RBI double in the fifth. William Penn got out of the inning with a pop up that left Evangel runners stranded at second and third. The Statesmen put the game out of reach in the top of the seventh tacking on three more runs. OF Blake McCarty went 2 for 4 in the game for the Crusaders with a double, a run and an RBI.
In game two, Evangel threated in the late innings again but fell short. Trailing 5-0 in the sixth, OF Kyle Thurman's bases loaded double drove in three runs. Evangel had a the tying run on base with only one out after a Ryan Frye walk but William Penn reliever Dakota Herman escaped with a ground ball and a strikeout. The Statesmen tacked on runs in the seventh and ninth. William Penn OF JP Rios drove in six of his team's seven runs while hitting two doubles and two sacrifice flies. The Crusaders were held to four hits in the game.
The losses drop Evangel's record to 8-15 and 0-2 in the conference while William Penn goes to 11-4 and 2-0.
Evangel is on the road for their next games. The Crusaders are at Graceland for a Saturday doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. in Lamoni, Iowa.
