COLUMBIA, Mo.—The (RV) William Woods University softball team will look to stay undefeated in American Midwest Conference play, as the Owls pay a visit to Columbia College tomorrow afternoon. First-pitch begins at 2 p.m.
In its first four AMC games on the season against Benedictine University at Springfield and Stephens College, the Owls (15-8; 4-0 AMC), have outscored them 43-2. The offense is batting .491 through the four games, with 15 players batting over .300, while the pitching staff has been fantastic, as the trio of
Julie Scheer,
Becca Schemmer and
MacKenzie Bowden hold a perfect 0.00 ERA, have combined to strike out 31 batters and opposing hitters are batting just .132.
Freshman
Beth Begemann has been a tough out in the AMC, batting .857 (6-for-7), with four runs scored, one triple, one home run, four RBI, a slugging percentage of 1.571 and an on-base percentage of .889. Her .857 is tops in the conference, while junior
Kacey Scharnhorst, who has a five-game hitting streak going on, holds the third best conference average at .667 (6-for-9) with five runs scored and is fourth in RBI with eight.
The team has also won eight out of its last nine games, outscoring its opponents 65-11 and as a team are batting .349, while the pitching staff is holding opposing hitters to a mere .161 average.
On the season, senior
Lindsey LeCuru holds the top average, batting .388 (26-for-67), with 16 runs scored, six doubles, four home runs and 15 RBI. Scharnhorst, meanwhile, is 7-for-7 the past three games at the plate, with four runs scored, which has upped her season average to .368 (21-for-57) with 15 runs scored, two home runs and a team-high 20 RBI.
On the mound, Bowden is 8-4 on the season in 72 1/3 innings pitched and has struck out 128 batters, which is first in the AMC and third in the NAIA. She also ranks 18
th in the NAIA in opposing batting average (.161), 19
th in hits allowed per nine innings (3.97), 21
st in wins (8) and 25
th in innings pitched (72 1/3).
Scheer is 3-0 on the season, having a 1.45 ERA in 19 1/3 innings pitched and has struck out nine batters, while Schemmer is 4-4 in 59 innings pitched and has struck out 40 batters, which ranks her third in the AMC.
The Cougars (9-6; 4-0 AMC), are also riding a four-game winning streak in the AMC, defeating Williams Baptist and Lyon College by a combined score of 44-12.
In conference play, the Cougars are batting .468 and are led by Brittiany Tjarks and Lauren McCroskie batting .583 and combining for 13 RBI. Kristin Eiken and Whitni Howell are also off to strong starts through four AMC games, batting .563 and .538 respectively.
On the season, Jamie Holmes holds the top average, hitting .491 (27-for-55), with 20 runs scored, two triples, a team-high four home runs and 16 RBI. Howell is second on the team with a .489 average (23-for-47) with 13 RBI. Marli Hayes leads the team in RBI totaling 24 and is batting .345 through 15 games on the year.
Meanwhile on the mound, three starters have earned two wins on the season, led by Taylor Richter having a 1.79 ERA in five appearances (2-1), and is third on the team in strikeouts with 11. McCroskie is also pitching well on the mound, earning a 3.86 ERA to go along with a 2-2 record in 29.0 innings pitched.
This will be the first meeting between the Owls and Cougars since last year's AMC Final Four game at Columbia, where the Owls won 4-3 behind the pitching performance of Schemmer.
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and scores from Columbia, Mo.
