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Box Score 2 FULTON, Mo.- The William Woods baseball team earned a comeback 5-3 victory in game one over Park University and the offense continued to swing the bats well in game two, defeating the Pirates 9-4.
The Owls (12-13, 8-6 AMC), jumped on Pirate starter Landon Fall right away in the first inning, as
Stephen Kohler forced a one out walk and was able to advance to second on a single by
Zach Nichols. Fall got
Matt Thomas to strike-out, but couldn't get
Jacob Harrison, as the third baseman ripped a single to right, scoring Kohler and giving the Owls the 1-0 lead.
The Pirates (7-18, 4-14 AMC), answered right back in the top off the second, as Kyzer Hoover hit a single off Owl hurler
Adam Brush, scoring Parker Jones who reached base earlier in the inning on a single, tying the game up at 1-1.
It continued to be a pitching battle between Fall and Brush, but it was the Pirates getting their first lead of the afternoon in the top of the fourth. After Brush was able to get the first two batters out in the inning, Shaun Williams Jr. reached base on an error by the Owls infield.
Then R.J. Barnes reached on a walk, putting runners on first and second for Hoover. Brush got Hoover to hit a ground-ball but it was misplayed by the Owls defense, scoring an unearned run and giving Park the 2-1 advantage.
In the bottom of the fifth, Greg Hamrock and Kohler got the offense going with back-to-back one out singles, putting runners on the corners for the 3-4-5 hitters. Fall got Nichols to strike out, getting a big second out and it was up to
Matt Thomas. The right fielder ripped a line drive just over the glove of first baseman Lance Kays down the right field line, scoring Hamrock and Kohler and giving the lead back to the Owls at 3-2.
Park, however, was able to tie the game back up at 3-3, as Kyle Clifton singled to right, scoring pinch-runner Kirk Pruitt. In the home half of the sixth, the Owls offense put away the Pirates away for good, scoring two runs on one hit, getting RBI from Hamrock and Kohler, giving the Owls a 5-3 lead.
Thomas who came in the sixth inning for the Owls, relieving Brush, shut-down the Pirates in the seventh, as the team hung on for the win. Hamrock and Kohler were hard outs at the top of the order, combining to go 4-for-7 with three runs scored and two RBI. Harrison also had a nice start to the afternoon going 2-for-3 with one RBI. Thomas got his first win on the season, pitching two shut-out innings allowing three hits.
In game two, the offense continued to roll, scoring two runs in the first, one in the second, taking a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the third. In the home half of the inning, Kohler led the inning off with a single to left. After Nichols lined out and Thomas was hit-by-pitch, Harrison hit the second single of the inning, scoring Kohler, pushing the advantage to 4-0, and moving Thomas to second, while Harrison was on first.
Eilert Meyers walked up to the plate and got the count into his favor at 3-1 and on the offering from starter Danny Herron, Meyers turned on the pitch, hitting a three run homer far over the left field wall, his first on the season, pushing the lead to 7-0 and that forced the Park coaching staff to remove Herron and go to the bullpen the rest of the afternoon.
The top of the fourth rolled around and that is when things got very interesting. Starter
Jeremy Ahillen got the first two batters out and after a walk to Kyle Clifton and a single by Lance Kays, the Pirates were threatening. Parker Jones got the Pirates on the board with a single to center, scoring Clifton, cutting the lead down to 7-1.
Before a pitch could be thrown to Chris Booth, the lights at the field decided to go out and the only thing that could be seen is the scoreboard. The Owls coaching staff scrambled for answers and after fast work by the staff, the darkness lasted just under 20 minutes and we went back to action.
After rolling through four innings of work, the delay didn't favor Ahillen as in the top of the fifth, after R.J. Barnes and Hoover reached base, Clifton ripped a three run homer of his own over the left field wall, cutting the lead down to 7-4 and that turned out to be the end of the day for Ahillen, who went five one-third innings pitched, allowing four runs, on seven hits, while striking out two. However, Ahillen was still in position for the win, his third on the season.
Damon Adrian came on in relief and did a fantastic job for three two-third innings pitched, allowing just one hit and struck out three batters, while the offense added one run in the sixth and the eighth, going on for the five run victory, sweeping the day one double-header.
The offense totaled 14 hits on the evening, with eight of the nine starters having at least one hit, Kohler ended game two going 3-for-5 with two runs scored. On the day, Kohler went 5-for-7 with four runs scored and one RBI.
Thomas, Harrison,
Kyle Switzer and
Austin Clapp each added two hits, with Meyers leading the way with three RBI, and Harrison adding two RBI. Ahillen gets his third victory on the year and Adrian picks up his first save in 2013.
The Owls and Pirates will begin their weekend series finale tomorrow at 12:00 p.m., with game two starting shortly after.
