Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 MOBILE, Ala.—Despite getting impressive pitching performances from seniors
MacKenzie Bowden and
Becca Schemmer, the offense was held quiet all afternoon, as the Owls fell to No. 3-ranked Spring Hill 1-0 in game one (8 innings) and 2-0 in game two.
Spring Hill 1 William Woods University 0 (8 innings)
Game one was a pitching duel between Bowden, who ranks third in the NAIA in strikeouts, and Caroline Sagrera, who leads the NAIA in strikeouts and has 14 wins on the season.
The game was scoreless through seven innings of play, so it was off to the top of the eighth, and in international tie-breaker rules, a runner is put on second base to start each inning.
In the top of the eighth,
Sydnae Hatton was on second and advanced to third base on
Megan Cooper's sacrifice bunt. Pinch-hitter
Emily Murphy then reached on a walk, putting runners on the corners with just one away. Sagrera, however, got out of the inning, retiring the next two batters she faced and kept the 0-0 game intact.
In the bottom of the eighth, Taylor Webre was able to advance to third on a sacrifice bunt put down by Shea Blanchard. The Badgers tried a squeeze play with Jenna Charnock, but the attempt failed, which caught Webre in a rundown between third and home, but a wild throw allowed Webre to score and the Badgers (20-5; 5-1 SSAC) handed WWU (16-11; 5-1 AMC) a tough one-run loss.
Bowden was fantastic against the Badgers, throwing 7 1/3 innings, allowing one run (zero earned) on six hits and struck out nine batters, while throwing 113 pitches. Sagrera, meanwhile, threw 107 pitches in 8 innings of work, allowing no runs on two hits and struck out 11.
Macy Wierschem and
Beth Begemann accounted for the two hits in the game for WWU, while Charnrock was the standout hitter at the plate, going 3-for-4 for Spring Hill.
Spring Hill 2 William Woods University 0
In game two, the Owls faced off again against Sagrera and the hurler shutdown the WWU offense, throwing a complete game shutout, allowing just one hit and struck out eight batters.
The Badgers took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on Owls pitcher Schemmer, as Webre was hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded. Schemmer, however, settled down the next two innings, but Spring Hill put the game away in the bottom of the fifth, as Blanchard hit her third home run on the season over the center field wall, to put the Badgers up 2-0.
The Owls offense couldn't get a comeback going the final two innings of the game against Sagrera, and the team fell by two runs.
Schemmer pitched very well for William Woods, allowing two runs on three hits and struck out four batters, while
Madison McCormick was the lone Owl to have a hit in the game.
The Owls will now look to snap its three game skid against (RV) University of Mobile on Tuesday evening. First-pitch will be thrown at 4 p.m.
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow afternoon for a full preview on Tuesday's doubleheader.
