FULTON, Mo.—The (RV) William Woods University softball team finally returns to its home field for the first time in the month of April, as the Owls will play host to Mid-Continent University on Friday afternoon. First-pitch will be thrown at 2 p.m., with game two following at 4 p.m.
The Owls (21-14; 7-1 AMC), have played 14 games the last 17 days and during the middle of their away trip, the team ran into some struggles, dropping six of their seven games, but faced two top 10 teams (Spring Hill, William Carey) and University of Mobile who was receiving votes.
WWU, however, couldn't have closed out the final days of its road-trip any better, as the team went 4-0 and outscored St. Louis College of Pharmacy and Hannibal-LaGrange 43-0.
Before squaring off against the Eutectics and the Lady Trojans, the offense was struggling, batting just .143 in the last seven games. On the hill, the pitching continued to throw the ball well, holding opposing hitters to a .235 average in 46.2 innings and struck out 32 batters.
After the four-game series, the offense looks to have found its groove back, batting .431 the last four games, having a hitting advantage of 53-7 and struck out only a combined seven times.
Twelve different hitters have a batting average above .300, with
Grace Fritz hitting an astounding .667 with five RBI, while senior
Lindsey LeCuru is hitting .500 the last four outings and leads the team with seven RBI.
Kacey Scharnhorst,
Caroline Sicht and
Emily Murphy are tied for the team lead in hits, totaling six a piece.
On the hill, the trio of
Julie Scheer,
Becca Schemmer and
MacKenzie Bowden have a perfect 0.00 ERA and opposing batters are hitting just .092 against the hurlers. Scheer went 2-0 in the doubleheader against St. Louis College of Pharmacy, including hurling the teams and her first no-hitter on the season in game one, while striking out a season-high 10 batters.
The improved statistics, have moved the teams season average back up to .286, with
Lindsey LeCuru batting just under .350 (.346 avg) and leading the team in hits (36), doubles (8), home runs (5), RBI (25) and slugging percentage (.625). Scharnhorst, meanwhile, is batting .455 through eight games in American Midwest Conference play, totaling eight RBI, which has upped her season average to .330 and is second in RBI, totaling 22.
Scheer, Bowden and Schemmer have a combined ERA of 1.60, which is 10
th-best in the NAIA, while their 243 strikeouts, are first in the NAIA. Bowden continues her stellar season, ranking in the top 25 in the nation in numerous categories, including total batters struck out (3
rd), total batters struck out per nine innings (4
th), hits allowed per nine innings (17
th), opposing batting average (18
th), innings pitched (18
th), ERA (19
th), and wins (23
rd).
Mid-Continent (5-19; 4-8 AMC), enters Friday's action looking for some answers, as the team has dropped four straight and 11 of its last 13 games.
The offense has a .257 batting average, and are led by Kelsey Tramel's .397 average through 24 games played, totaling three home runs and 12 RBI. Colby Smith is hitting .368 on the year, totaling 14 runs scored, while leading the team in home runs (4) and RBI (18). Bry Navarro is the final MCU player batting over .300, and is leading the team in runs scored (15) and is tied with Tramel having 12 RBI.
The pitching staff has a 6.35 ERA, with Smith having a 4.98 ERA to go along with her 4-11 record on the mound in 19 appearances, while Angie Pollock has thrown in 21 games and struck out a team-high 22 batters.
This will be just the second time these two times have met in their history, with the Owls winning the previous match-up.
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow evening for a full recap and score from Backer Sports Complex.
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