FULTON, Mo.- The William Woods baseball team is on a season high nine game winning streak and the Owls will look to extend the streak against no. 16 ranked Lyon College starting at 12:00 p.m. on Friday.
Last Time Out
The Owls (21-14, 15-7 AMC), are coming off a four game weekend series sweep of Williams Baptist, where the team out-scored the Eagles, 46-18. As a team, the Owls batted 0.392 in the four games played, with 10 players batting over 0.300.
Damon Adrian batted a perfect 1.000, taking advantage of his only plate appearance as he slugged his first home run on the season over the weekend.
Justin Elmore (0.714) and
Ryan Sweet (0.571) also swung the bats well, as Elmore appeared in three games, while Sweet played in two.
Greg Hamrock batted 0.571 in the series (8-for-14) with eight runs scored and three doubles.
Jacob Harrison (0.500), went 7-for-14 with six runs scored, two home runs and eight RBI. The Owls totaled six home runs over the weekend, with Adrian, Elmore,
Zach Nichols and
Austin Clapp slugging one each.
Nichols (0.438),
Stephen Kohler (0.412),
Matt Thomas (0.400),
Jordan Thompson (0.333) and Clapp (0.313), all contributed in the Owls sweep of Williams Baptist, with each player having at least two hits and one RBI.
The Lyon Scots (39-9, 21-3 AMC), have won 11 out of their last 13 games, and are currently on a four game winning streak, including defeating Benedictine-Springfield in three straight games. The Scots lost game one against the Bulldogs 12-10, however, went on to win game two, three and four by a combined score of 29-16.
The teams' most recent victory came against in a non-conference match-up against Victory University, winning 8-2. Starter Colten McSpadden picked up the victory, throwing six innings of six hit ball, allowing just two runs. The offense totaled 12 hits, led by Colby Rogers going 2-for5 with two runs scored and three RBI.
Brush School Records Start Too Mount
With his shutout performance against Williams Baptist in game one on Friday, starter
Adam Brush has tied the school record in career wins with 18, tying Zack Lamb who has held the mark since 2002. Brush has also totaled 200 strikeouts in his career, placing him third on the all-time list, trailing Lamb by 36 strikeouts. He also holds the lowest career ERA (Min. 100 innings pitched) at 3.05 and has the record for most shutouts in his career with four, Brush has two this season, tying the season high record.
Saturday is Senior Day
In between games between Lyon and William Woods, there will be 10 seniors honored for their career as an Owl.
Jordan Thompson,
Justin Elmore,
Jacob Harrison,
Gianfaro Randazzo,
Ryan Sweet, Greg Hamrock, Kale Wierenga,
Trevor Manis,
Robertt Butvin and
Kyle Muzechka all will be recognized by the coaching staff, players and the fans.
Offense Paces Owls in Winning Streak
During their nine game winning streak, the Owls are batting 0.403, out-scoring their opponents 111-51, totaling 125 hits, 25 doubles, four triples, seven home runs and 96 RBI. Harrison holds the top average for the Owls, batting 0.579 in five games played (11-for-19), with 10 runs scored, two home runs and eight RBI. Hamrock has been just as good through nine appearances, hitting 0.516 (16-for-31), with 15 runs scored, six doubles and seven RBI.
Elmore has come around in the winning streak, batting 0.500 (8-for-16) with eight runs scored, one double, one triple, one home run and six RBI. Nichols has been a stand-out player as of late batting 0.485 with 14 runs scored, four doubles, two home runs and a team high 23 RBI. There are eight other players for the Owls batting over 0.300, three more are hitting at or above 0.400.
Team Averages Rise to Top of American Midwest Conference
The Owls hot hitting has moved their team average up to 0.331, which is now first in the conference, leading second place Lyon by (0.15). The team is also second overall in slugging percentage (0.451), runs scored (243), runs scored/game (6.94). WWU is third in hits (345) and runs batted in (212), trailing second place Missouri Baptist by just two runs.
Home For the Season
The Owls are very comfortable playing in front of the home crowd, as they are 10-2 when they play on their home field. That benefits the team very well as they have eight games remaining (all home) left before AMC Playoffs. The biggest games on the season likely will be this weekend when William Woods welcomes Lyon College to Fulton on Friday and Saturday.
Bobblehead Game and Alumni Weekend
The first 100 fans who attends Friday's game will receive a Screech bobblehead. Also, this weekend William Woods welcomes all Alumni back to campus and all athletic events this weekend will be free of charge for all Alumni.
Players to Look Out For (William Woods)
On the year, Hamrock leads the Owls with a 0.449 average (48-for-107), with 31 runs scored, 13 doubles, 17 total bases and a slugging percentage of 0.570. His 0.449 is the best in the conference and seventh in the NAIA. Kohler, through 33 games played, is batting 0.433 (45-for-106), with 25 runs scored, five doubles, and 19 RBI. Kohler's 0.433 average is second in the American Midwest Conference and 16
th in the NAIA.
Nichols has moved his season average up to 0.387 (36-for-93) with 28 runs scored, nine doubles, tied for team high in home runs with three and leads the Owls in RBI with 37. Elmore (0.378), Harrison (0.378),
Ryan Sweet (0.364), Thomas (0.337),
Kyle Switzer (0.310), and Clapp (0.304) are the other players batting over 0.300 and who have improved their batting average recently.
On the mound, the Owls hold a 4.52 ERA, led by relievers
Garret Haslag(0.00),
Kyle Muzechka(1.42), and
Matt Thomas(1.59). The three relievers have combined for 22 games played, allowing just eight runs and striking out 22 batters. The starters are led by reigning American Midwest Conference Pitcher of the Week Brush, who is 5-3, with a 2.52 ERA and has a K/BB ratio of 48/22.
Dane Smith (3.15), is the other starter holding an ERA under 3.50 and has earned two victories on the season.
Players to Look Out For (Lyon College)
Lyon holds a 0.319 batting average, and they are led by Colby Rogers batting 0.394 through 47 games played. Rogers leads the team in hits (61), doubles (21), RBI (47), total bases (93), slugging percentage (0.600) and on base percentage (0.500). Jim Gossett is second on the team holding a 0.367 average, totaling 40 hits, 10 runs scored, four doubles and 25 RBI. Bryan Lynn is a power hitter for Lyon, batting 0.341 with 56 hits, 14 doubles, five home runs and 45 RBI.
On the hill, Lyon is led by Ben Neyen who is 8-2 on the season in 11 games started, earning a 1.89 ERA through 66 2/3 innings pitched and a K/BB ratio of 59/26. Talan Roepcke is second on the team in wins (7) and has suffered just one loss in 10 starts. Roepcke has a 2.82 ERA in 67 innings pitched and is holding his opponents' batting average to 0.256.
