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Box Score 2
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The William Woods University baseball team spilt an American Midwest Conference doubleheader against Hannibal-LaGrange University on Friday afternoon to win the three-game set against the Trojans.
William Woods (12-2, 2-1 AMC) fell victim to a three-run seventh inning rally by Hannibal-LaGrange (5-11-1, 1-2 AMC) in game one, as the Trojans won, 9-8, in walk-off fashion. The Owls were able to recover in game two, and shut out HLGU for the second time in the series to win the rubber game, 9-0.
"I was really pleased that we were able to bounce back from a devastating loss in game one," said Head Coach Darren Munns. "Anytime you have a two-run lead in the final inning and you blow that lead its tough of your team. But, it says a lot about our squad that they were able to bounce back and take game two and win the series."
Game One Recap
The Owls held an 8-6 lead going into the game's final inning, but were unable to hold on to its advantage, as Hannibal-LaGrange scratched three runs across the plate to record the come-from-behind 9-8 walk-of win.
Holding an 8-6 advantage, William Woods was three outs away from its seventh straight victory as they went into the game's final inning. HLGU got back-to-back hits from its first two batters of the seventh inning to put the tying run in scoring position.
After the Owls recorded the first out of the inning with a strike out, Keaton Baker hit a seeing-eye single to bring his team within a run at 8-7. Curtis Stout was next for the Trojans, and he hit a ball off the left field wall for a long single, but it knotted the game up at 8-8, with the winning run sitting at second base.
The next batter for HLGU drew a walk after a William Woods' pitching change to load the bases and set the stage for pitch hitter Ian Dotson. The righting worked the count full after fighting off a couple of tough pitches, but would final get the ball in fair territory with an opposition field hit to right field to plate the game-winning run.
James Ball suffered the loss for William Woods, as he was handed his first defeat in an Owls uniform. Ball came in for Ryan Yuengel in the third inning, after the righty had allowed six runs in 1.3 innings pitched. Ball threw 4.2 innings of scoreless baseball, but could not get out of the seventh inning and suffered the loss.
William Woods jumped out to a 4-0 lead after it first two at-bats, but Hannibal-LaGrange struck for six runs in the second inning to give them a 6-4 advantage after the first two innings. WWU responded with three runs in the top of the third and reclaimed a 7-6 advantage after three.
Ball kept the Trojan offense at bay, as he tossed four shutout innings, and the Owls would add another run in the fifth with a Zach Nichols double to score Derek Fletcher. That would be the last run William Woods scored in game one, as they held an 8-6 lead.
Nichols and Cody Stewart each drove in two RBI's on the day for William Woods. Nichols went 1-for-2 in game one and Stewart went 1-for-4. Austin Clapp collected a pair of hits on the day, as the junior went 2-for-2 at the plate with a walk.
Game Two Recap
John Cavness tossed seven shutout innings to help the Owls rebound from a tough game one loss to Hannibal-LaGrange, as the Owls offense scored nine runs in the contest's first six innings to collect the 9-0 victory in game two and the series win.
The southpaw allowed six hits over his seven innings and struck out six batters to help William Woods claim the rubber game of the series. Game three's shutout victory was the second time WWU pitching prevented the Trojan offense from coming up with a run in the three-game set.
"He was really good today. When John is down in the zone, he is a very tough left hander," said Munns of his starter. "He had all three pitches working today; he stayed in rhythm, and let his defense work behind him. His performance was a big pick-me-up , especially in a rubber game. You want your starter to go out there and give you a chance to win and he did that this afternoon."
Cavness kept is perfect record intact on Friday afternoon, as the win was this third in as many starts this season.
William Woods struck for two runs in the first inning with a Matt Thomas double that scored Cody Stewart and Zach Nichols. WWU added two more in the second inning with a Stewart single to take a 4-0 lead after two frames.
The Owls scratched across two more runs in the fifth inning with a Nichols single and a Nick Spagnola double to give their team a commanding 6-0 lead. William Woods added three more runs in the sixth to pad its lead to 9-0, and that would be the final score as Dustin Kremer tossed a scoreless eighth and ninth inning to preserve the win.
Thomas had a big day at the plate in game two, as the lefty went 2-for-4 with five RBI's in the victory.
WWU will step out of conference play on Sunday afternoon as they host Central Methodist University in the Owls 2014 home-opener. First pitch from Owls Field is set for 2 p.m.
