OSKALOOSA – Chris Walls (Sr.-North Liberty, Ind.) threw 6 2/3 shutout innings and Jared Zueck (Sr.-Williamsville, Ill.) had three hits as Iowa Wesleyan College rallied to win the second game of a Midwest Collegiate Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon against William Penn University.
On a day in which hits were few and far between, the Tigers defeated the Statesmen 4-0 in the second game of the twinbill, shaking off a first game loss. Penn won the opener 2-0 to take the first game of the three-game weekend series.
The results from Saturday’s split left the MCC standings looking much like they did coming into the day. William Penn at 11-5 in conference still holds a ½-game lead over IWC (11-6). In all five teams are separated by a total of one game in the standings, with Penn tied with fifth-place Mount Mercy in the loss column but leading the Mustangs by two games in the win column.
The Tigers needed a big performance in the second game of the doubleheader after struggling to just six hits in the first game. They got it from Walls, who shut down the Statesmen on just two hits over the first six innings and struck out seven, picking up his third win of the year.
Walls received early run support in the form of an RBI double by Edder Morales (Sr.-Barquisimeto, Venezuela) in the first inning, but didn’t have a bigger cushion to work with until the fifth inning. That’s when the Tigers scored three times, getting several timely hits and taking advantage of a few WPU mistakes. Adam DuBuque (Jr.-St. Louis, Mo.) singled in a run, Bryson Griffin (Jr.-Provo, Utah) scored on a double steal, and Zueck doubled in DuBuque to make it 4-0.
Walls was on track for a complete game shutout after retiring the first two batters in the bottom of the seventh, but two straight Statesmen hitters singled and Walls hit Nick Golich with a pitch to load the bases with two out. With the t ying run at the plate, Edgar Hernandez (Sr.-Jalisco, Mexico) was summoned from the bullpen and got Miguel Castillon to ground out to second to end the game and record his sixth save of the season.
IWC had just five hits in the second game and only 11 hits for the doubleheader, while Penn finished with 12 hits over two games. Zueck had four hits to lead the Tigers, while Lino Sampson (So.-Puerto Ordaz, Venezuela) added two hits in the first game.
The Tigers are now 20-20 overall, while William Penn is now 21-13. The two teams will play the final game of their three-game series on Sunday, with the nine-inning game starting at noon.
For more information regarding the IWC baseball program or any of the Tiger athletic teams, contact sports information director Adam Glatczak (319-385-6306 phone; 319-385-6384 FAX; aglatczak@iwc.edu e-mail) or log on to IWC's athletics web site at www.iwc.edu/athletics.
Box score Game 1 WPU 2 IWC 0
Box score Game 2 IWC 4 WPU 0
