FULTON, Mo. -- The William Woods University baseball team concludes this season's three-game American Midwest Conference series against Park University on Tuesday afternoon at Owls Field. First-pitch is slated for 4 p.m.
These two teams meet two weeks ago in Parkville, Mo., for a doubleheader in which William Woods (21-7, 9-5 AMC) swept. The Owls defeated Park University (9-15, 6-8 AMC) 4-2 in game one, followed by a 9-4 victory in game two to complete the sweep.
Zach Nichols paced the WWU offense in the two-game sweep, by going a combined 4-for-6 at the plate. The senior collected an RBI single in game one, and hit a double in game two. Fellow classmate, Cody Stewart, also had a four-hit series by going 4-for-9 and scoring a run.
Dustin Kremer and Bubba Bradshaw picked up the wins against the Pirates on that day. Kremer won game one by allowing four runs and picking up two strikeouts in 4.1 innings, and Bradshaw tossed a then career-long 6.1 innings, allowing just two earned runs in the game two victory.
The Owls come into Tuesday's game in fourth place in the AMC after taking two of three against Lyon College. William Woods picked up a doubleheader sweep of the Scots on Friday thanks to a pair of stellar starting pitching performances from Dane Smith and John Cavness, but dropped the series finale, 8-4, on Saturday afternoon to snap its four-game winning streak.
Smith tossed his fourth complete game shutout of the year in game one, as he went seven innings allowing five hits and struck out six. Cavness followed that up performance with a career-best outing, as the lefty went eight complete innings, allowing just one run, while striking out five batters and walking none. The duo are a combined 10-2 on the year, as both starters holds a 5-1 record.
Nichols has a big weekend for the Owls, as the senior hit .583 (7-for-12) with four RBI and three doubles. The highlight of the series came in game two, where the Hannibal, Mo., native went a perfect 5-for-5 with three doubles. On the year, Nichols holds an even .400 batting average and leads the team in slugging with a .589 clip. He has driven in 27 RBI, two behind team leader Matt Thomas, and is tied for the team-lead in homeruns at two.
For Park University, they are currently seventh in the conference with a 6-8 mark, after suffering a three-game home sweep to No. 20 Freed-Hardeman University over the weekend.
The Pirates are hitting .294 as a team, and are led by Christian Torres' .412 batting average. The junior leads the team in almost every offensive category as he is the team leader in hits (35), triples (3), home runs (2), and RBI (23). He has collected 10 extra-base hits this season, which has allowed him to post a .612 slugging percentage.
Earlier this season Torres went 4-for-6 against the Owls, including a perfect 3-for-3 in game two, and drove in three RBI.
On the pitching side, Park University holds a staff ERA of 4.55. Milan Pleacher leads the team with his 2.09 ERA in six starts this season. The senior has tossed a team-high 38.2 innings and has allowed only nine runs, while striking out 24 batters.
Pleacher did not pitch in either game against William Woods earlier this season, but he holds a career 81.00 ERA against the Owls, as he allowed six runs in 0.2 innings out of the bullpen last season.
After completing the doubleheader sweep against Park two weeks ago, William Woods now holds the 14-12 all-time series lead.
Check back with wwuowls.com for a full recap of this and every game during the 2014 season.
