OSKALOOSA – Diego Marquez (Jr.-Los Mochis Sinoloa, Mexico) drove in all five runs in the first game and Pedro Hernandez (Jr.-Quebradillas, Puerto Rico) hit a go-ahead two-run homer late in the second game as Iowa Wesleyan College swept a doubleheader from William Penn University Monday night.
The Tigers defeated the Statesmen by scores of 5-1 and 4-3 at Penn Baseball Field in a pair of make-up games originally scheduled for Saturday in Mount Pleasant. IWC got strong pitching performances and came up with big hits late to take an early season lead in the Midwest Collegiate Conference standings.
Wesleyan surpassed the Statesmen in the league standings, improving to 6-1 in conference while Penn dropped to 5-2 in the MCC. The Tigers also tied their total for wins for all of last season, moving to 21-11 overall this year.
Marquez had a double and a homer in driving in all five of IWC’s runs in the first game of the evening. The junior catcher cleared the bases in the second inning with a double over the center fielder’s head, giving the Tigers early control with a 3-0 lead.
William Penn came back with a run in the top of the third, but neither team scored again until the sixth inning as the pitchers took control. Justin DeVoe (Sr.-Newton, Iowa) had nine strikeouts and held the Statesmen to just three hits in the game, getting out of jams in the fourth and sixth innings. Meanwhile, Penn starter Chris Wedel struck out five of seven batters at one point, including the first two in the bottom of the sixth.
With two outs in the sixth, though, Jared Zueck (Jr.-Williamsville, Ill.) worked Wedel for a walk, and Marquez followed with a fly to center that kept carrying for a two-run homer and a 5-1 lead. Hector Acevedo (Sr.-Guaynabo, Puerto Rico) came on in the seventh inning and retired the side to finish it out.
The second game developed in much the same way as the first, with pitchers leading the way. WPU got on the board first with a solo home run in the second by Garrett Jenner, but the Tigers came back to tie on an RBI single by Roderick Barcelo (Jr.-Vega Baja, Puerto Rico).
Starting pitchers Travis Parker (Jr.-Taylor Ridge, Ill.) and Joey Grant settled in to a duel over the next six innings, combining for 16 strikeouts. Both teams scored a single run in the fourth, and the game was still tied in the sixth when Zueck was issued a two-out walk. Hernandez followed by turning on an inside pitch from Grant, crushing it down the left field line inside the foul pole for a 4-2 lead. Edgar Hernandez (Jr.-San Bruno, Calif.) came on for Parker in the final inning and despite a pair of errors in the inning was able to record the final two outs for the save in relief of Parker, who allowed eight hits and three runs while striking out six.
The Tigers return to action Wednesday, hosting Grand View University for a single nine-inning game at 3 p.m.
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 IWC 5 WPU 1
Box score Game 2 IWC 4 WPU 3
