JOPLIN, Mo.—The William Woods University baseball team will look to keep its undefeated season going, as the Owls travel to Joplin, Mo., for four games over a three-day span this weekend.

The Owls (5-0), are coming off a solid start to the season, defeating Christian Brothers University (7-3) in its season opener, then defeated Northwestern Ohio University (5-0) and swept past Victory University in a three-game series, outscoring the Eagles 26-9.

Through five games, the Owls offense is batting .336, led by Cody Stewart batting a team-high .600 (6-for-10), with three runs scored, one double and two RBI. Alex St. Pierre had a strong four games, batting .556 (5-for-9) with two runs scored and two RBI.

Sam Moon, who transferred to William Woods from Central Arkansas, had an impressive debut for the Owls, batting .417 (5-for-12) with four runs scored, one triple, one home run and tied for the team lead in RBI, having 10.

On the mound, the Owls used 11 pitchers and they combined for a team ERA of 2.37. Leading the way was Dane Smith, who kept the Northwestern Ohio batters silent, throwing a complete game shutout, allowing just one hit and struck out five. For his efforts that game, Smith was named American Midwest Conference Pitcher of the Week.

James Ball also pitched well for the Owls this past weekend, going 2-0 and picking up a save in 9 1/3 innings pitched, allowed just five hits and struck out seven.

First-up for the Owls on Friday afternoon at the Joplin Tournament is Viterbo University, with a start-time being at 5 p.m. This will be Viterbo's second game on the 2014 season, as they will play Central Methodist University at 12 p.m. on Friday.

The team is looking to build off its 24-19 campaign and will look to senior Matt Watkins to lead the way, as he batted a team-high .327 in 2013, scoring 17 runs and added 12 RBI.

On Saturday at 1 p.m., the Owls will play Waldorf College at Wendell Redden Stadium. Like all the opponents for William Woods this weekend, this will be the Warriors first game in 2014. The team is coming off a 15-30 record in 2013, but return its two top hitters from a year ago, as Brandon Pizzo (.355 avg) and Tevin Padgett (.308 avg) combined for 41 runs scored, 18 doubles, five triples, four home runs and 37 RBI.

On the mound, the team brings back Matt Hutchins, who held a 2.61 ERA in nine starts, while in 58 2/3 innings pitched, he had a K/BB ratio of 69/31 and opponents batted just .188.

Then, at 6 p.m. on Saturday, the Owls will play Grand View University, the reigning Midwest Collegiate Conference Champions. The Vikings, who finished 26-21 last season, defeated Viterbo University in the championship game 13-3 and earned a spot at the NAIA Championship Opening Round in Cleveland, Tenn.

The Vikings return three of its top four hitters from last year, led by Blake Marchant, hitting a team-high .392 in 45 games played, leading the team in hits (58), doubles (12), triples (2), home runs (5) and RBI (36). Zach Little and Zac Smit will be others players to keep an eye on, as they finished with a .336  and .320 batting average.

On the hill, GVU brings back Hans Losada who held an ERA of 3.54 in 12 starts, going 3-3 in 61 innings pitched and struck out 50 batters.

To close out the Joplin Tournament, the Owls will have another go at Viterbo University on Sunday, with first-pitch being thrown at 1 p.m. inside Wendell Redden Stadium.

Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score against Viterbo University.

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