FULTON, Mo. -- The William Woods University baseball earned a doubleheader split this afternoon against No. 25 Freed-Hardeman University, but the Owls dropped the three-game American Midwest Conference series, 2-1 to the Lions this weekend.

William Woods (14-5, 3-3 AMC) dropped the first game of the afternoon, 7-4, to Freed-Hardeman (14-6, 4-2 AMC), but was able to erase an 11-3 deficit in game two by scoring 14 runs in the final two innings to score the 17-11 come-from-behind victory to salvage a split on the day.

"I'm elated that we were able to get a split today and win the final game of the series," said Head Coach Darren Munns. "We didn't play very well today. We didn't pitch well enough, and during these conference series we have to have good pitching performances from our staff. Thankfully, our offense put some late runs together and helped us take the final game of the series. We got a big win in the last game; we were able to string some at-bats together against their bullpen and pull out a win. We haven't trailed a lot this season, and to come back from that deficit is a great lesson for our guys. It shows them that they are never out of it in this game."

Game One Recap

The Owls took an early lead in game one, but a four-run third inning by No. 25 Freed-Hardeman University helped them to a 7-4 victory in game two of this three-game set.

William Woods took an early 2-0 in the first inning after a pair of errors allowed Alex St. Pierre to score, followed by a RBI single by Zach Nichols.

After a couple of scoreless frames by Freed-Hardeman, they were finally able to get on the scoreboard in the third inning, by posting a four-run frame to take a 4-2 advantage. The Lions loaded the bases with just one out before Robert Prieto hit a shallow fly ball that dropped in front of an Owl's defender allowing two runs to score. FHU would load the bases again two batters later, and Bob Seda's two-run double gave his team a 4-2 lead, ending starter John Cavness' day.

Dylan Hastings came in relief for Cavness and recorded back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning to keep the deficit at two runs.

Lion's starter Greg Young had retired eight straight WWU hitters after Nichols' RBI single in the first, but the Owls were able to end that streak in the bottom of the fourth with a leadoff double by Matt Thomas.

Spagnola reached on a bunt single to put two runners on with no outs for William Woods. However, they would be unable to take advantage of the situation, as Thomas was thrown out at home and the next batter hit into a 6-4-3 double play to end the frame without a run.

FHU extended its lead in the top of the fifth with a Storm Bates two-run single, making it 6-2 in favor of the Lions. The Owls got a run back in the bottom half of the inning, as Derek Fletcher led off with a walk. Tyler Nemmers came in to run for the catcher, and he would get to third base on a wild pitch and a balk. Cody Stewart hit into a fielder's choice to score Nemmers without the benefit of a hit.

William Woods got another run back in the bottom of the sixth, as Austin Clapp collected a two-out RBI single to drive in Thomas, after he led off the inning with another deep double, to make it a 6-4 game.

The Lions scored in the top of the seven to give them a three-run lead at 7-4. WWU would get the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the frame, but was unable to push any runs across the plate, suffering the three-run defeat.

John Cavness took the loss for William Woods, as he went just 2.1 innings after giving up four runs. The loss is the first of the season for the southpaw, who moves to 3-1 on the season. Greg Young picked up the win for the Lions, improving to 6-1 on the year. Nolan Huber recorded his fourth save of the year by throwing a scoreless seventh inning.

Matt Thomas continued his hot hitting streak by collecting a pair of hits in game two. The Owls out-hit the Lions on the day 7-6. Stewart, Nichols, and Austin Clapp each picked up an RBI in the defeat.

Game Two Recap

William Woods trailed Freed-Hardeman, 11-3, going into the bottom of the seventh inning, but a nine-run rally in the frame, followed by a five-spot in the eight helped the Owls collect a 17-11 come-from-behind victory.

The Owls collected nine of its season-high 20 hits in the seventh inning, as they sent 14 batters to the plate in the frame. Eilert Meyers brought home the biggest hit of the inning by sending a two-out double to right center to score Cody Stewart and Matt Thomas and give the Owls a 12-11 advantage.

WWU responded with three runs in the first two innings, as they took a 3-0 into the third inning. Freed-Hardeman University responded with 11 unanswered runs, scoring four in third, three in the fourth, one in the fifth, and three in the sixth to take a commanding 11-3 lead going into the seventh inning.

Stewart and Thomas collected back-to-back singles to chase Freed-Hardeman's starter, Chris Hatfield, out of the game with two on and no outs.  After a Meyers strike out, Nick Spagnola delivered the third hit for the Owls in the inning to score Stewart. Austin Clapp smashed a double to score Thomas and Spagnola to pull William Woods within five at 11-6.

Sam Moon provided the Owls with another run, with his RBI single past second base, Alex. St. Pierre would later single up the middle to score WWU's fifth run of the inning, cutting its deficit to three at 11-8. Thomas sent an RBI single up the middle to score two runs in his second at-bat in the inning, to end reliever Brandon Guske's day and put William Woods down by just a run at 11-10.

Meyers delivered the inning's final hit, with an opposite field double to score Stewart and Thomas, and give the Owls a 12-11 lead.

William Woods delivered five more runs in the next inning, to take a 17-11 lead. The six-run advantage would be more than enough for James Ball to hold on too, as the closer tossed two scoreless innings to pick up the save.

Cole Schafer picked up his first win in an Owl uniform in game two, by tossing 0.2 of scoreless baseball.  For Ball, the save is his fifth on the year.

Thomas and Clapp each collected four hits on the day, as they were two of six Owls' players to have a multi-hit game against Freed-Hardeman.

WWU will return to action on Tuesday afternoon with an AMC doubleheader against Park University. First pitch from Parkville, Mo., is set for 1 p.m.

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