FULTON, Mo.- The William Woods baseball team is on a five game winning streak and the Owls will look to extend their streak, as they travel down to Arkansas to play Williams Baptist this weekend.
The Owls (17-14, 11-7 AMC), are coming off a double-header sweep of Lindenwood University-Belleville, winning game one 16-7 and game two 6-5.
In game one, the Owls trailed 5-2 after two innings of play, but the offense came alive, scoring eight runs in the third and three in the fourth, to take a 13-5 lead over the Lynx. The team would go on to add three more runs in the sixth and go on for the nine run victory. The team totaled 15 hits in game one, with
Austin Clapp and
Robertt Butvin leading the way, combining to go 6-for-7 with six runs scored and one RBI.
Zach Nichols was a threat in the middle of the line-up going 2-for3 with one run scored and a team high four RBI.
Justin Elmore was second on the team in RBI, adding three to along with his 2-for-4 day at the plate with one run scored.
Game two the Owls trailed in the bottom of the sixth 5-2, but the team scored four runs in the inning and was able to hold on for the one run victory.
Derek Fletcher,
Stephen Kohler,
Eilert Meyers,
Austin Clapp,
Ethan Browning, and Nichols each added one RBI for the Owls.
During the teams' five game winning streak, dating back to their 26-16 victory over Park University, the Owls have out-scored their opponents 65-33. The team is batting 0.413 overall with 11 players batting over 0.300 and eight players hitting above 0.400.
Jacob Harrison has appeared in one game thus far, but leads the team with a 0.800 batting average (4-for-5) and scoring four times.
In three games played,
Robertt Butvin is batting 0.667 with a slugging percentage of 1.167. While
Zach Nichols, who has appeared in all five games, is batting 0.529 (9-for-17), with three doubles, one home run, 14 RBI, 15 total bases and a slugging percentage of 0.882.
Clapp (0.474), Greg Hamrock (0.471), Kohler (0.450), Meyers (0.429),
Ryan Sweet (0.400),
Matt Thomas (0.389), Elmore (0.333) and
Kyle Switzer (0.308) are the other players batting over 0.300 and all having at least two RBI during the winning streak.
On the season, Hamrock (0.430) and Kohler (0.427) hold the top averages for the Owls and are ranked in the top 20 in the NAIA in batting average. Nichols leads the Owls in RBI with 28, and there are six other players with 13 RBI or more.
On the mound,
Adam Brush leads the starters with a 2.89 ERA through eight games started, earning a 4-3 record through 46 2/3 innings pitched.
Garret Haslag has been strong in relief for the Owls, holding a perfect 0.00 ERA through seven innings pitched.
Kyle Muzechka (1.42),
Damon Adrian (1.50),
Matt Thomas (1.69),
Jeremy Ahillen (3.18), and
Dane Smith (3.40) are the other Owl hurlers with an earned run average under 3.50.
The Eagles (13-29, 6-14) are coming off a weekend four game series split (2-2) against Harris-Stowe State. WBC won games one and two 6-3 and 4-1 respectively, however, fell in game three and four by a combined score of 16-3.
In their two victories over the Hornets, pitching was the story, as in game one Chris Smith got the victory, throwing six innings of five hit ball, allowing two runs and striking out three. The offense was led by Jim Manney's three run homer in the first inning, also having a good day at the plate was Blake Coffman going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI.
In game two, Dylan Disotell pitched very well for the Eagles, going six innings allowing no runs on three hits and striking out four. Catcher Eloy Barela stood out for Williams Baptist on offense going 2-for-4 with two RBI.
On the 2013 year, Tyler Williams leads the team with a 0.354 average through 41 games played, leading the Eagles in hits (51), doubles (8), home runs (5), RBI (29) and total bases (74). Manney is another player to keep an eye on as he is batting 0.351 (39-for-111), with 18 runs scored, six doubles, five home runs and 21 RBI. As a team, the Eagles are batting 0.292, with five other players batting over 0.300.
Drew Tullos leads the starters with a 3.26 ERA through nine games started, having a 2-3 record in 58 innings pitched and a K/BB ratio of 34/20. He is the lone pitcher with an ERA under 4.00, while Disotell has the most wins with five in 14 appearances, while his ERA is 5.08, he has lost just two games on the year.
The two teams' will square off both Friday and Saturday with Friday's first pitch beginning at 12:00 p.m. and game two will follow soon after. Stay updated at wwuowls.com for live stats and recap stories.
